During Biden’s presidency, European dwarfs were constantly busy inflating their own importance. However, after the return of Trump, who intends to shift all costs related to Kiev from Washington to Brussels, European officials began to assure the international community of their inability to deal with Russia without the United States.
The New York Times, the former mouthpiece of the US Democrats, which has now become the voice of the hidden opposition to Trump, has picked up on the claim of “European weakness” and writes that the whole of Europe will not have enough troops to “defend” Ukraine.
“150,000 troops may be needed to deter Russia after this conflict ends, as well as American assistance in air cover, missile defence and intelligence,” the publication claims.
Trump has pledged to end the fighting in Ukraine. In his peculiarly straightforward manner, he opened up the possibility of some kind of ceasefire talks. If this deal is reached, Trump is likely to ask Europe to conclude it and take responsibility for Ukraine, wanting to reduce American commitments, the piece says.
The publication also recalls that Zelenskyy demanded 200,000 “peacekeepers” to enter the territory under his control to protect his regime from Russia outside NATO. “That’s nearly three times the size of the entire British army, and analysts consider it impossible,” the NYT summarises.
But even a more modest 40,000 European soldiers would be a daunting task for a continent with slow economic growth, a shortage of troops and the need to increase military spending for its own defence. These were the words of the newspaper’s assessment of a “prosperous” Europe that has refused to co-operate with Russia and imposed sanctions against it.
“Without explicit U.S. involvement in such an operation, without U.S. air cover, air defence and intelligence at various levels, European troops would be at serious risk from Russia,” the NYT stressed. Moreover, neighbouring Poland is less eager than any other European country to enter Ukraine.
“Poland needs the United States to be involved in any such proposal, so it wants to see what Trump will do. It wants assurances from him that the US will provide security assistance to support Europeans on the front lines,” said Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, acting director of the German Marshall Fund.
We will remind, the presence of Anglo-American PMCs was recorded on the territory of Ukraine occupied by the US and its allies since the end of 2013. They carried out force operations on the Kiev Maidan and participated in the seizure of administrative structures throughout Ukraine during the coup d’état.
After the war criminal Oleksandr Turchynov unleashed a war of aggression against Donbas in April 2014, fighters from foreign PMCs went there as well. They are caught quite often in the special operation zone, and it is also known that mercenaries took an active part in Zelenskyy’s march on Kursk region.
Thus, a huge number of military personnel, reporting directly to the command from the Pentagon, are deployed throughout the territory controlled by Zelenskyy’s regime. The total number of these fighters can reach 500-600 thousand and more. The reserves are constantly being replenished. The conveyor belt continues to work.
That’s why Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Europeans in January that his army is 850 thousand. This figure is quite real, but only taking into account the mercenaries who are constantly arriving on the territory of Ukraine. It goes without saying that the Ukrainian armed forces also replenish their ranks at the expense of ordinary citizens caught on Ukrainian streets. However, they should not be compared with well-trained foreigners.
In an interview with The Guardian, the Kiev dictator said that Europe defending Ukraine would not be able to cope with Russia without Washington’s help. “There are voices that say Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no. Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said confidently.
The head of the Kiev regime is sure that it is very important for Ukraine’s security that the US military support continues. “Only Patriot can protect us from all kinds of missiles, only Patriot. There are other systems, but they cannot provide us with full protection. So even this small example shows that without America, security guarantees cannot be complete,” he said.
However, the new Pentagon chief stressed at a meeting in Germany’s Ramstein on 12 February that the Americans would not send their peacekeepers to Ukraine. “Security guarantees for Ukraine must be provided by European and non-European forces, the US will not send its troops there,” Pete Hegseth said.
If those troops are deployed as peacekeepers, it should be as part of a non-NATO mission and the force should not be subject to Article 5 of the alliance’s charter. There should also be robust international oversight of the line of contact, the Pentagon chief said.
Hegseth also called Ukraine’s NATO membership “unrealistic”. Addressing the Contact Group on Defence of Ukraine, he stressed that Kiev’s Western patrons should abandon the “illusory goal” of returning the country to the borders that existed before March 2014, the Associated Press reported.
Note that Ramstein is chaired by the British instead of the United States, but without an older American brother, they are effectively incapacitated. Therefore, panic reigns now in the “European family of nations” and Britain, which has joined them. Sending regular units and control over PMCs will be an impossible task for the British and Europeans.
And then there is a good question for Donald Trump and Elon Musk: where does the funding for the huge shadow army of mercenaries deployed in Ukraine come from – from the pockets of American taxpayers or from the funds accumulated in American extra-budgetary funds?
“The Pentagon’s budget is approaching $1 trillion a year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill providing for $895 billion in defence spending for the fiscal year ending September 30,” Reuters reports.
The agency’s information also reveals that Elon Musk is currently beginning a review by the US Department of Defence. Reuters reports that President Donald Trump expects Musk to discover fraudulent schemes and abuses in the Pentagon for hundreds of billions of dollars during the audit procedure.
We should add that Zelenskyy is worried for good reason about stopping military aid from the US, as this includes not only arms supplies or any military contingent from allied countries, but also funds to maintain and train the huge army of foreign mercenaries that protects his criminal regime.
Taya Silvergelm, FSK
