The Trump administration wants to work with traditional allies to secure new supplies of critical minerals. But months of aggression toward allies, culminating with since-aborted threats to seize Greenland, have left many cool to the overtures. While the State Department has drawn a lengthy list of participating countries for its first Critical Minerals Ministerial scheduled for Wednesday, a number of those attending are hesitant to commit to partnering with the U.S. in creating a supply chain that bypasses China’s current chokehold on those materials, according to five Washington-based diplomats of countries invited to or attending the event. State Department cables obtained by POLITICO also show wariness among some countries about signing onto a framework agreement pledging joint cooperation in sourcing and processing critical minerals. Representatives from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the meeting, according to the State Department — all gathered to discuss the creation of tech supply chains that can rival Beijing’s. But the meeting comes just two weeks since President Donald Trump took to the stage at Davos to call on fellow NATO member Denmark to allow a U.S. takeover of Greenland, and that isn’t sitting well. “We all need access to critical minerals, but the furor over Greenland is going to be the elephant in the room,” said a European diplomat. In the immediate run-up to the event there’s “not a great deal of interest from the European side,” the person added. The individual and others were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic relationships. Their concerns underscore how international dismay at the Trump administration’s foreign policy and trade actions may kneecap its other global priorities. The Trump administration had had some success over the past two months rallying countries to support U.S. efforts to create secure supply chains for critical minerals, including a major multilateral agreement called the Pax Silica Declaration. Now those gains could be at risk. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wants foreign countries to partner with the U.S. in creating a supply chain for the 60 minerals (including rare earths) that the U.S. Geological Survey deems “vital to the U.S. economy and national security that face potential risks from disrupted supply chains.” They include antimony, used to produce munitions; samarium, which goes into aircraft engines; and germanium, which is essential to fiber-optics. The administration also launched a $12 billion joint public-private sector “strategic critical minerals stockpile” for U.S. manufacturers, a White House official said Monday. Trump has backed away from his threats of possibly deploying the U.S. military to seize Greenland from Denmark. But at Davos he demanded “immediate negotiations” with Copenhagen to transfer Greenland’s sovereignty to the U.S. That makes some EU officials leery of administration initiatives that require cooperation and trust. “We are all very wary,” said a second European diplomat. Rubio’s critical minerals framework “will not be an easy sell until there is final clarity on Greenland.” Trump compounded the damage to relations with NATO countries on Jan. 22 when he accused member country troops that deployed to support U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 of having shirked combat duty. “The White House really messed up with Greenland and Davos,” a third European diplomat said. “They may have underestimated how much that would have an impact.” The Trump administration needs the critical minerals deals to go through. The U.S. has been scrambling to find alternative supply lines for a group of minerals called rare earths since Beijing temporarily cut the U.S. off from its supply last year. China — which has a near-monopoly on rare earths — relented in the trade truce that Trump brokered with China’s leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in October. The administration is betting that foreign government officials that attend Wednesday’s event also want alternative sources to those materials. “The United States and the countries attending recognize that reliable supply chains are indispensable to our mutual economic and national security and that we must work together to address these issues in this vital sector,” the State Department statement said in a statement. The administration has been expressing confidence that it will secure critical minerals partnerships with the countries attending the ministerial, despite their concerns over Trump’s bellicose policy. “There is a commonality here around countering China,” Ruth Perry, the State Department’s acting principal deputy assistant secretary for ocean, fisheries and polar affairs, said at an industry event on offshore critical minerals in Washington last week. “Many of these countries understand the urgency.” Speaking at a White House event Monday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum indicated that 11 nations would sign on to a critical minerals framework with the United States this week and another 20 are considering doing so. Greenland has rich deposits of rare earths and other minerals. But Denmark isn’t sending any representatives to the ministerial, according to the person familiar with the event’s planning. Trump said last month that a framework agreement he struck with NATO over Greenland’s future included U.S. access to the island’s minerals. Greenland’s harsh climate and lack of infrastructure in its interior makes the extraction of those materials highly challenging. Concern about the longer term economic and geostrategic risks of turning away from Washington in favor of closer ties with Beijing — despite the Trump administration’s unpredictability — may work in Rubio’s favor on Wednesday. “We still want to work on issues where our viewpoints align,” an Asian diplomat said. “Critical minerals, energy and defense are some areas where there is hope for positive movement.” State Department cables obtained by POLITICO show the administration is leaning on ministerial participants to sign on to a nonbinding framework agreement to ensure U.S. access to critical minerals. The framework establishes standards for government and private investment in areas including mining, processing and recycling, along with price guarantees to protect producers from competitors’ unfair trade policies. The basic template of the agreement being shared with other countries mirrors language in frameworks sealed with Australia and Japan and memorandums of understanding inked with Thailand and Malaysia last year. Enthusiasm for the framework varies. The Philippine and Polish governments have both agreed to the framework text, according to cables from Manila on Jan. 22 and Warsaw on Jan. 26. Romania is interested but “proposed edits to the draft MOU framework,” a cable dated Jan. 16 said. As of Jan. 22 India was noncommittal, telling U.S. diplomats that New Delhi “could be interested in exploring a memorandum of understanding in the future.” European Union members Finland and Germany both expressed reluctance to sign on without clarity on how the framework aligns with wider EU trade policies. A cable dated Jan. 15 said Finland “prefers to observe progress in the EU-U.S. discussions before engaging in substantive bilateral critical mineral framework negotiations.” Berlin also has concerns that the initiative may reap “potential retaliation from China,” according to a cable dated Jan. 16. Trump’s threats over the past two weeks to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canada for cutting a trade deal with China and 25 percent tariffs on South Korea for allegedly slow-walking legislative approval of its U.S. trade agreement are also denting enthusiasm for the U.S. critical minerals initiative. Those levies “have introduced some uncertainty, which naturally leads countries to proceed pragmatically and keep their options open,” a second Asian diplomat said. There are also doubts whether Trump will give the initiative the long-term backing it will require for success. “There’s a sense that this could end up being a TACO too,” a Latin American diplomat said, using shorthand for Trump’s tendency to make big threats or announcements that ultimately fizzle. Analysts, too, argue it’s unlikely the administration will be able to secure any deals amid the fallout from Davos and Trump’s tariff barrages. “We’re very skeptical on the interest and aptitude and trust in trade counterparties right now,” said John Miller, an energy analyst at TD Cowen who tracks critical minerals. “A lot of trading partners are very much in a wait-and-see perspective at this point saying, ‘Where’s Trump really going to go with this?’” And more unpredictability or hostility by the Trump administration toward longtime allies could push them to pursue critical mineral sourcing arrangements that exclude Washington. “The alternative is that these other countries will go the Mark Carney route of the middle powers, cooperating among themselves quietly, not necessarily going out there and saying, ‘Hey, we’re cutting out the U.S.,’ but that these things just start to crop up,” said Jonathan Czin, a former China analyst at the CIA now at the Brookings Institution. “Which will make it more challenging and allow Beijing to play divide and conquer over the long term.” Felicia Schwartz contributed to this report.

France will boost its military presence in Greenland in the coming days, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure in his bid to annex the Danish territory. “An initial team of French soldiers is already on site and will be reinforced in the coming days by land, air and sea assets,” Macron told an audience of top military brass during his new year address to the armed forces. “France and Europeans must continue, wherever their interests are threatened, to be present without escalation, but uncompromising on respect for territorial sovereignty,” he added, speaking in Istres, an airbase in the south of France that hosts nuclear-capable warplanes. On Wednesday, several European nations including France, Germany, Sweden and Norway said they would send troops to Greenland to participate in a Danish military exercise, amid repeated threats by Trump that the U.S. could use force to seize the island. After a White House meeting on Wednesday, Denmark and Greenland “still have a fundamental disagreement” with the U.S., Denmark said. In an obvious jab at Trump, who he didn’t mention by name, Macron criticized “a new colonialism that is at work among some.” Europeans have the means to be less dependent on the U.S., he added, revealing that two-thirds of Ukraine’s intelligence capabilities are now provided by France. In an address to his Cabinet on Wednesday, Macron warned that if the United States seized Greenland from Denmark, it would trigger a wave of “unprecedented” consequences, a government spokesperson said. The French president convened a defense council meeting Thursday morning to discuss both the Iranian uprising and the situation in Greenland, POLITICO reported.  MORE MONEY FOR DEFENSE Macron started increasing defense spending again as soon as he was elected in 2017, even before Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine and NATO’s commitment to boost budgets. The French president confirmed that France would seek to increase defense spending by €36 billion between 2026 and 2030, adding he wants the updated military planning law to be voted by parliament by July 14. “This decade of French rearmament is bearing fruit … and rearmament efforts will continue,” he told the audience. However,  the military planning law has been delayed by France’s spiralling political crisis. It was initially scheduled for last fall and has already been put off several times. As well, the €6.7 billion boost for 2026 still hasn’t been approved by lawmakers, and it’s unclear whether (and when) the government will manage to convince MPs to pass this year’s budget. In another jab at Trump, Macron said Paris wasn’t increasing military expenditures to “please this or that ally, but based on our analysis of the threat.” That’s a reference to last year’s NATO decision to set a new defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP — following significant pressure from the U.S. president. The three main priorities for France’s spending boost are: to increase munition stocks; to develop sovereign capabilities in air defense, early warning systems, space and deep strikes; and to improve the ability of the armed forces to engage swiftly. “This year will be a test of credibility in many ways, and we are ready,” Macron said. SLAMMING THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY The French president, who has a history of shaking up the defense industry, also criticized the country’s military contractors — arguing some of them risked being “forced out of the market” for slow innovation and deliveries. “I want to ask even more of you. We need to produce faster, produce in volume, and further increase mass production with lighter systems and innovative methods,” Macron said. “I need an industry that does not consider the French armed forces as a captive customer. We may seek European solutions if they are faster or more efficient. We too must be more European in our own purchasing and in our industrial strategies.” The French state usually buys mostly French military equipment, but Paris is increasingly opening its wallet to other Europeans, most recently by signing a deal with Sweden’s Saab to purchase GlobalEye surveillance and control aircraft. France is also “late” when it comes to drones because French companies didn’t set up enough partnerships with Ukrainians and are now being overtaken by rivals, he said. Although he bashed France’s military industrial complex, Macron did pat Paris on the back for its long-standing skepticism of relying too much on the U.S. and its calls for strategic autonomy and a European pillar within NATO. “What was initially a French conviction in the face of the evolving threat has become obvious for Europeans,” Macron told the audience. “We were right to start, even on our own.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared he would ask Congress for a $1.5 trillion defense budget in 2027, a massive $500 billion increase from this year’s Pentagon budget. The huge boost likely reflects how expensive some of Trump’s military ambitions are, from the Golden Dome air defense effort to his call for a new battleship design. Neither of those programs could be fully funded under current spending levels. The president provided few details in his post on Truth Social, other than to say the money would pay for his “Dream Military.” Trump did suggest that tariff revenues could cover the increase, but even if he managed to circumvent Congress’ constitutionally mandated power over spending, existing tariff collections would still be several hundred billion short of what the president plans to ask for. While finding half-a-trillion dollars in new spending would prove difficult, Trump and some congressional Republicans appeared confident they could do so. The budget reached $1 trillion this year thanks to $150 billion in new money Congress voted to pour into Pentagon coffers via a reconciliation bill, although much of that will be spread out over the next five years on various long-term projects. Lawmakers have yet to complete a defense spending bill for this fiscal year, although a final agreement is expected to increase Trump’s budget request by several billion dollars. Some Republicans have long argued for significant annual increases in Pentagon funding, with a topline total of around 5 percent of GDP, up from the current 3.5 percent. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) called Trump’s aspirations “a good news story” after his administration proposed budgets defense hawks on Capitol Hill saw as lacking. “We think we need a permanent 4 percent [of GDP] or better,” Bacon said. “That’s what it’s gonna take to build our Navy, our Air Force, our ICBMs, our bombers, and take care of our troops.” The 2026 budget only reached $1 trillion due to the $150 billion added on by Congress. That one-time infusion gave a boost to Golden Dome as well as new initiatives to build more precision-guided munitions and air defense weapons. But the funding will need to be included in year-on-year spending legislation, something Trump’s new proposal appears to take into account. Trump’s surprise budget announcement came just hours after he sent defense stocks plunging by railing against the performance of major defense companies. In another social media post, Trump said he would not allow defense companies to buy back their own stocks, offer executives large salaries and issue dividends to shareholders. He also slammed the companies for moving too slowly, and charging too much, for weapons. “A lot of us are saying we want a commitment to a sustained spending [increase], not just a one-year,” Bacon said. The White House and Republicans have left open the possibility of another party-line megabill that could be used to increase defense spending again this year. It is unclear if GOP leaders are willing to pursue the procedurally and politically arduous approach again while they still maintain control of both chambers of Congress. Republicans would need to use that process again to accommodate even a portion of Trump’s request because Democrats are likely to balk at any move that slashes healthcare benefits, education and foreign aid in the ways Republicans have sought, said one defense lobbyist. “Golden Dome and Golden Fleet are completely unaffordable without budgets of this size, so the administration would need to come up with the numbers to back it up,” said the lobbyist, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive spending dynamics. “But my guess is that the extra money will have to be in reconciliation.” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said overall defense spending “needs to go up,” but wouldn’t say if the massive increase pitched by Trump is realistic. “I’ll take any request the president makes seriously, and we’ll see,” Cole said. Another senior House appropriator, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), hailed Trump as “absolutely right” in his own post. “For too long, we have underfunded our defense apparatus—undermining our national security and benefiting our foreign adversaries,” Womack said. “A strong national defense is critical to our long‑term prosperity and to protecting our country against every emerging threat. I commend President Trump for his leadership and look forward to working to advance a $1.5 trillion defense bill.”

PARIS — Europe’s disunited governments are in denial about the extent to which violence is shaping global politics and must step up to assert their combined force as a hard power, the chief of defense staff of the French military has warned in a sweeping interview. “A weakened Europe may find itself tomorrow as a hunted animal, after two centuries of the West setting the tone,” General Thierry Burkhard said in unusually outspoken remarks to POLITICO and French newspaper Libération.  “It’s not only about armed forces, but about the fact that hard power dynamics now prevail.” Burkhard warned that Europe’s fragmented countries would have to bind together more tightly as a strategic force to counteract the “spheres of influence” being built by China, Russia and the U.S. “On the one hand, European countries have never been so strong. On the other, there is a form of denial from governments and populations in the face of the level of violence in the world today,” he added. The French general’s reality check echoes a growing number of warnings about Europe’s weakness. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi also stressed last week the EU had to stop pretending it could exercise global influence just as an economic force and consumer market. He insisted the bloc had received a “very brutal wake-up call” from Donald Trump that it needed to think in far more strategic terms about security and defense spending. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday accused the European Union of sliding into irrelevance on the world stage. “We must be willing to pay the price of our freedom and our independence,” she said. Burkhard, who leaves his job at the end of the month to be replaced by Air Force General Fabien Mandon, has been at the helm of France’s military since 2021. Under his watch, France’s armed forces boosted their presence on Europe’s eastern flank and became more active in NATO while preparing for high-intensity warfare. In the past months, the French general also co-chaired the coalition of the willing, a group of countries working on security guarantees for Ukraine in case of a ceasefire with Russia. Burkhard described a world defined by four political factors: The use of force to resolve conflicts; a push by countries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to challenge the West; the power of information warfare; and the impact of climate change.  “More than Russian tanks, the establishment of a de-Westernized alternative order threatens Europeans. If Russia can break Europe without an armed attack, that is the path it will choose,” France’s highest-ranking military officer said, speaking in his office at the armed forces ministry’s Paris headquarters, known as Balard. “In tomorrow’s world, the strategic solidarity uniting European countries must be very, very strong. No country in Europe can be a major player alone,” Burkhard added. “It’s not about building something against the United States or even against Russia, but rather about achieving the critical mass needed to have influence and avoid being sold off by the slice.” The challenge for Europeans has always been to speak with one voice, especially when it comes to defense policy. Madrid’s push to be exempt from NATO’s new 5 percent of GDP defense spending target, following comments by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that Russia doesn’t pose an immediate threat to Spain, highlights how differently European nations perceive threats. “The difficulty with European defense is to encompass the strategic interests of European countries as a whole,” Burkhard said. “Estonians do not have the same strategic vision as the Portuguese; no one can deny that. A middle ground must be found.”  ‘MOMENTUM’ FOR UKRAINE SECURITY GUARANTEES  Those strategic interests include preserving Ukrainian independence, and there is growing pressure on European countries to step up. Despite many unanswered questions, discussions around security guarantees for Kyiv picked up steam in the past weeks, following Trump’s Aug. 15 Alaska meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  “The U.S. president’s very strong desire to reach a peace agreement is bringing new momentum,” Burkhard said, speaking one day after flying back from Washington for military talks. After a White House gathering with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Meloni, among others, the Trump administration even signaled openness to contribute to security guarantees. That could reportedly include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, as well as command and control and air support.  For most European capitals, U.S. military backing is a precondition to engage in any effort to monitor a potential peace agreement in Ukraine.  “The Americans mainly believe that the Europeans must demonstrate their commitment to taking responsibility,” Burkhard stressed. “It’s a chicken or egg dilemma: Some countries are only prepared to commit if there are American guarantees. But it’s not really a military debate, it’s a political one.”  While the “best security guarantees would be to demonstrate American determination in the event of a peace agreement violation,” military operations could include troops in Ukraine, air patrols over the country, ensuring that shipping traffic resumes in the Black Sea, and helping to build the Ukrainian army, the French general explained.  “To restore the Ukrainians’ confidence, we need to send the signal that European countries, possibly supported in some way by the United States, are ready to provide guarantees,” the French general said. “Providing guarantees often means taking risks.”  The danger is that any military contingent becomes involved in the war — especially as the Kremlin repeatedly said it doesn’t want European troops in Ukraine. That’s why the rules of engagement — meaning what militaries in Ukraine would do in case of a Russian attack — remain a key question. “If you are going to uphold a peace agreement, the rules of engagement are self-defense. That’s quite logical,” Burkhard said.  ‘CHOSEN’ VS ‘IMPOSED’ WARS  The high intensity conflict in Ukraine is triggering a deep rethink of how Western armed forces operate, according to Burkhard.  “We have moved from chosen wars — in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Mali — to imposed wars,” the French general said. In what he calls “chosen wars,” political and military leaders retain control over how much ammunition is fired, how long troops remain and how many personnel are deployed. Imposed wars are existential conflicts with no such choices. “If the Ukrainians don’t fight 100 percent [against Russia], they will disappear. That’s what imposed wars mean,” he added.  To face the new reality, Burkhard argued, Western armed forces have to diversify their arsenals. “The question of ‘what kills what and at what cost’ is central. If we only develop high-tech weapons that kill but are actually very, very expensive, we will probably not succeed,” he said, adding that armed forces also need low-cost weapons of attrition. The French general pushed back against the argument that the French armed forces could only last a few days in a high intensity conflict because munitions stocks are too low. France would not fight Russia on its own but alongside NATO allies, he emphasized.  “Our ammunition stocks are not as high as they should be because we have focused more on chosen wars,” Burkhard added. “Does it mean the French armed forces are not able to engage in operations? No. They can do so tonight if necessary.” 

President Donald Trump is weighing a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to two people familiar with the plan, the first potential aid from the administration to the beleaguered country. The discussions come just over a week after the Pentagon blindsided many in the White House by abruptly halting part of an existing aid package with thousands of artillery rounds and precision ammunition. Trump has said that aid will resume. A new weapons package would underline the administration’s internal divisions over Ukraine assistance as its battle against Russia grinds past a third year. The money would come from a fund Congress approved last year under President Joe Biden that allows the Defense Department to take weapons out of U.S. military’s stockpiles for Ukraine. The fund, known as presidential drawdown authority, still holds about $3.8 billion. Trump, who has expressed frustration with the Kremlin’s refusal to help broker an end to the war, hinted in a Thursday interview with NBC News about “a major statement” on Monday involving Russia. He teased the announcement again on Friday, when asked by reporters about Russia’s overnight bombardment of a Ukrainian maternity hospital. “You’ll be seeing things happen,” he said. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon responded to requests for comment. Reuters first reported that the administration was considering new aid. NATO nations, meanwhile, are working on a larger deal to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine, said a congressional aide, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. POLITICO reported earlier this month that Kyiv is asking Washington to let Europe buy American weapons. “We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons,” Trump said in the NBC interview. Defense Department officials said they halted the weapons shipments due to concerns about U.S. stockpiles. But some officials disagreed that these relatively small shipments would have an adverse impact on U.S capabilities. The issue led Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg to call defense industry executives into his office for a meeting last month to discuss concerns over the stockpiles, according to a person briefed on the conversation. That person said the concerns were similar to those articulated by the Biden administration in its final months: the Ukraine war, along with continued operations in the Middle East, was taking a toll on the Pentagon’s munitions stockpiles. Feinberg, who handles the Pentagon’s budgeting process, is considering sending Congress a proposal for a new munitions funding package, according to the person, and is pushing the defense industry to speed up its production of air defenses and precision rockets and missiles. The aid package for Ukraine that was halted this month included 30 Patriot air defense missiles and hundreds of precision weapons that Ukraine uses for offensive and defensive purposes. Some 8,000 155mm howitzers shells and 250 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets have started moving into Ukraine, but it is unclear if and when the Patriot air defense missiles will move, according to one of the people familiar with the situation. The potential new military assistance, the first from the U.S. since January, comes as Ukraine’s cities have faced the heaviest Russian drone and missile bombardments yet. Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed nine people and left dozens wounded.

Amid uncertainty over American military aid to Ukraine and Europe’s call to do more, President Donald Trump announced NATO will fund and send weapons to Kyiv. Last week, the U.S. halted shipments of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine, POLITICO first reported, before reversing course and resuming deliveries this week.  Then, on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed Berlin is prepared to acquire additional Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine. It also comes after Kyiv asked Washington to let Europe buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine.  Perhaps feeling the heat, Trump told NBC News late Thursday that: “We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, a hundred percent.” “We’re going to be sending Patriots to NATO, and then NATO will distribute that,” he added. Across Europe, there’s a feeling of whiplash over the Trump administration’s recent Ukraine policy reversals plus confusion about who is making decisions at the Pentagon, while Kyiv worries that the aid package passed under the previous administration could soon run out, and the Republican-dominated U.S. Congress shows no sign of approving a new one. “We discussed with our partners the possibility of purchasing the necessary weapons packages in Europe and primarily in the U.S.,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday. “We’re talking about air defense systems, ammunition, and so on.” Though Trump’s commitment to Ukraine has been uncertain since his return to office, he has in recent months voiced frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his refusal to end the war. In his NBC interview, Trump again expressed disappointment in Russia and said he would make “a major statement” Monday — though the contents of that are unknown for now.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to stand with Europe in defending Ukraine.  “Stay with us and stay with the Europeans,” Merz said at the recovery conference for Ukraine in Rome. “We are looking for a stable political order in this world. Stay with us on this side and on this page of our common history.” Trump’s willingness to continue U.S. support for Ukraine has been in question in recent weeks and months, particularly as his administration has dithered on supporting a substantial new sanctions bill targeting Russia under consideration in the U.S. Senate. At the beginning of July, the Pentagon halted shipments of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine. This week, however, Senate leaders said Trump was ready to throw his support behind the sanction package and the U.S. resumed paused weapons deliveries. That has raised hopes in Europe that the Trump administration’s support for Ukraine has grown more steadfast amid Russia’s escalating bombardment of Ukraine. In his comments Thursday, Merz also criticized Slovakia and its prime minister for holding back passage of an 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia. Under Prime Minister Robert Fico, who hails from the country’s leftist-populist Smer party, EU and NATO member Slovakia has broken ranks with Western allies on Ukraine, including by halting military aid to Kyiv amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. “I urgently ask Slovakia and its prime minister to give up the resistance and to free the way” for the sanctions package, said Merz. The chancellor also reiterated German support for Ukraine’s path to EU membership. The Ukraine Recovery Conference this week in Rome has drawn international leaders to make commitments on the embattled country’s reconstruction. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of the European Flagship Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine at the conference on Thursday.

President Donald Trump, appearing fed up, accused the Russian President Vladimir Putin of spouting “bullshit” and said he was “very strongly” considering supporting a punishing sanctions bill to bring Russia to heel. The legislation, which has broad bipartisan support, would impose high tariffs on countries that import Russian energy and implement secondary sanctions on foreign firms that support Russian energy production. While the legislation has for some time had the votes to pass in both chambers of Congress, Republican leadership has not brought it to the floor, waiting for a signal from Trump. “I’m looking at. It’s an optional bill,” Trump said during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. “It’s totally at my option. They pass it totally at my option, and to terminate totally at my option. And I’m looking at it very strongly.” Trump hastold allies privately that he doesn’t believe sanctions would be effective in deterring Putin; and, during a meeting last month with Germany’s chancellor, he criticized the legislation as “a harsh bill, very harsh.” But his comments during the Cabinet meeting signaled that he could be changing his mind, or at the very least encouraging the Senate to send the bill to his desk while stopping short of committing to signing it into law — a means, said one person familiar with the administration’s thinking and granted anonymity to discuss it, of increasing the president’s options and leverage over Putin. Trump’s comments are the latest signal of a broadening rift between him and Putin, who the president once hoped would help him quickly end the war in Ukraine. Trump has noticeably cooled toward Putin since the Russian leader refused to attend a summit in Istanbul that the U.S. organized in an effort to wind down hostilities in Ukraine. Putin, instead, has intensified attacks on Kyiv and other population centers. “I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump said in May, before posting on social media, “He has gone absolutely CRAZY.” At last month’s NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump was chummy with allies, supportive of the alliance and held a long meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump reiterated Tuesday that he was “very unhappy” with Putin, with whom he spoke for more than an hour last Thursday. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, [if] you want to know the truth,” Trump said. Trump’s remarks come less than 24 hours after he said that he intended to restart weapons shipments to Ukraine, which were halted last week following a Pentagon review that cited concerns about munitions shortages potentially impacting American military readiness. Although the White House insisted that the review hadn’t come as a surprise to the president, Trump on Tuesday claimed not to know who at the Pentagon oversaw the review and decided to pause Ukraine aid. “I don’t know,” he replied. “You tell me.”

Halted shipments of some American military aid to Ukraine could resume after a series of high-level meetings in Italy and Ukraine over the coming week, according to two people familiar with the planning. These meetings could be the key to resuming some of the aid, which POLITICO first reported were paused earlier this month. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg will meet with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Rome at an international aid conference followed by a meeting in Kyiv this week and next, with the issue of aid sure to be at the top of the agenda. The Ukrainian government sees the resumption of air defense and precision munitions as critical to its war effort, as Russia has hit civilian targets hard in some of the largest drone and missile strikes of the war over the last two weeks. The U.S. has indicated to Kyiv that deliveries of engineering equipment and some armored vehicles will resume soon, though no timeline has been given yet, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to share details of ongoing discussions. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The Kyiv meeting between Kellogg and Umerov was not originally intended to address U.S. military aid, and was “set up before news of the arms pause came to light last week,” Kellogg spokesperson Morgan Murphy said in response to a request for comment about the meetings. The Pentagon’s abrupt halt of missile defense and precision-guided munitions for Ukraine last week came as a shock to Ukraine and caught many lawmakers and Trump allies off guard. It also raised new questions among U.S. allies across the Atlantic about whether America was more broadly stepping back from military support for Kyiv. The munitions pause appeared counter to comments Trump made last month after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in The Hague, where he indicated he was willing to step up the shipment of air defense systems to Ukraine. “They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, as they call them, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said. “They’re very hard to get.” Trump discussed the aid pause on a call Friday with Zelenskyy, and also addressed a potential ceasefire agreement with Russia. The Ukrainian president said it was “probably the best conversation we have had during this whole time, the most productive.” That call came a day after Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a conversation Trump indicated did not go well. He was “very unhappy” with the Putin call, he told reporters over the weekend. “It just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people. It’s not good. I wasn’t happy with it.” In contrast, he indicated that the call with Zelenskyy was more productive, and suggested that more weapons could soon be on the way. When asked about supplying more Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine — which were stopped under orders from the Pentagon — Trump replied, “Yeah, we might … they’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.” On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that the aid stoppage wasn’t permanent, portraying it as “a pause, to review, to ensure that everything the Pentagon is pushing out there is in the best interests of our military and our men and women in uniform.” Some of the weapons denied to Ukraine included 8,400 155mm artillery rounds, 142 Hellfire missiles and 252 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles, which can precisely hit targets up to 50 miles away. Most significantly, the halted shipment also included 30 Patriot missiles used for shooting down Russian missiles and drones, which have been pounding apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure in Kyiv. “The air defense munitions — the Patriots — are obviously the big one because Russia is producing so many UAVs that are becoming harder to hit with Ukraine’s mobile air defenses,” said Rob Lee, who studies the Russia-Ukraine war for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “Russia is actually targeting the defense industry, and sometimes they have success and they destroy factories, so providing air defense systems is important because it also helps Ukraine produce its own munitions so it can sustain the fight itself,” Lee added. The stepped-up Russian attacks killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including children, Ukrainian officials said Monday. Over the past week, Russia launched at least 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and 1,000 glide bombs at different areas of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said Monday. Eli Stokols contributed reporting.

AARHUS, Denmark — A U.S. decision to stop delivering some key munitions to Ukraine is damaging for NATO and the European Union, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday. “If the U.S. decides not to provide Ukraine with what is needed it would be a serious setback for Ukraine and for Europe and for NATO,” she told a news conference in Aarhus, Denmark standing beside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.  “The war in Ukraine has never only been about Ukraine,” she added. “This is a war about the future of Europe and therefore of course we will look into the decisions made in Washington.” Frederiksen’s comments come after the White House confirmed earlier this week that the U.S. would stop sending air defense missiles and some precision munitions to Ukraine, corroborating a report by POLITICO.   Denmark is one of Ukraine’s strongest backers, having contributed nearly €10 billion in military and civilian support since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, and Frederiksen has been one of the loudest voices in the EU calling to maintain the pressure on Russia. “If there are any gaps [left by the U.S.], I personally believe that we should be willing to fill them,” she added. Speaking minutes later at a separate press conference alongside Frederiksen and von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is counting on the “continuation of American support,” but noted there are some items — namely Patriot missiles that Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones and missiles — that Europe can’t immediately replace. Asked about President Donald Trump’s planned Thursday conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy said Moscow had failed to abide by the terms of a ceasefire and noted he would be speaking with Trump in the coming days. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had failed to abide by the terms of a ceasefire and noted he would be speaking with Donald Trump in the coming days. | Julien Warnand/EPA Pressed on what kind of support the EU would be able to give Ukraine, the bloc’s top two officials — European Council President António Costa and von der Leyen — stressed that Brussels remains fully committed to backing Kyiv, and noted that EU countries had provided €24 billion in total military aid for Ukraine so far this year, including 2 million artillery shells. While that amount is larger than the U.S. contribution, it is substantially less than what the U.S. and Europe were able to muster jointly before Washington wound down its aid to Kyiv.