this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2025

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Europe preps huge defense package in boost to Ukraine: "Never been seen" (www.newsweek.com)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

European officials are preparing a multibillion-dollar defense package to bolster regional security and support Ukraine, announced by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Munich Security Conference.

The package, potentially valued up to 700 billion euros, will fund military training, arms deliveries, and security guarantees amid concerns over Russian aggression and diminishing U.S. contributions to NATO.

The move follows calls for Europe to boost its own defense spending while U.S.-Russian talks, which exclude Ukraine and Europe, on ending the Ukraine conflict continue.

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[+] [email protected] -64 points 3 days ago (9 children)

I don't get why the EU still wants to maintain its confrontation mode? Wouldn't it be better to just find peaceful solutions for the future?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago

Sure, it would be better with a peaceful solution: Russia should stop attacking and pay for the damage they've already done.

The solution proposed by Putin and Trump is not peaceful.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I think the reason is: because the EU has seen nothing good coming recently from Trump's or Putin's mouth.

Putin's previous record is that he poisons opposition figures, attacks countries and attempts to conquer them. He has not resigned from the goal of controlling Ukraine yet, so there is no reason to come out of war mode - and indeed, perhaps going deeper into war mode will make him willing to let go.
Trump's previous record is that he makes a mess where he goes, has previously obstructed military assistance to Ukraine multiple times. On his best days, he behaves like a protection racket.

Those two are currently negotiating "behind the shed" somewhere.

What EU is doing, is putting together a contingency plan for a possible outcome: Trump helping reach an agreement which Ukraine cannot accept, and US support to Ukraine ceasing to flow.

In that case, the EU must move enough military resources to replace the US. The package volume (0.7 US defense budgets, in addition to EU countries' individual defense budgets) indicates that it's a "replace the US" package.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Are you a Russian bot

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Finally Ukraine is getting the help they need! Kick out Russia once and for all!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Finally Ukraine is getting the help they need!

This might actually be the silver lining of it all.

There has been an uncomfortable disparity between words of support and actual support. I heard many times that the ultimate goal the Pentagon wants to achieve is Russia not losing the war. Out of (comprehensible) fear a falling dictator might throw a last Tantrum235. Germany has also been firmly sitting on the brakes from the start. Remember 5000 helmets? And the (for some Ukrainians literally) gut-tearing discussions at each and every step, wether this is Putins red line, or that is Putins red line, wether this or that might escalate the war, all while Putin escalates the war.

Now that the DSA have kissed themselves goodbye, Europe seems to finally realize what's at stake and oops they can do something about it. So there is hope Germany might get it's fat ass off the track. There is even talk about Germany taking a leadership role, though given the context, this must be dark humour. Gotta love that.

Fingers crossed Europe unites in action and Ukraine is getting the help they need! Doing otherwise would send a strong signal to the new Imperialists in east and west that you can pick and chew at our borders, be it the Baltics or Greenland.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Germany has also been firmly sitting on the brakes from the start. Remember 5000 helmets?

Remember how it took like two days to overturn 70 years of precedence of "no weapons delivery into crisis regions"? Without us actually having a debate about it because there was an overwhelming majority for it from the get-go? Those 5000 helmets were part of the initial "find what we have and what we can legally send" order, which then arrived in Ukraine in the same shipment as the first actual weapons.

The, say, tank situation is ambiguous, I don't have enough insider information to actually make a judgement. Either Germany said "only if the US says it's ok" or Germany said "let's put some political pressure on the US to get into the game, to commit". Ultimately, Germany shipped everything but Taurus. I think we should -- and much of the parliament agrees. Majority, actually, but not the governing majority so as is tradition parties voted against their own actual position. I guess that it's being held back so something is being held back so that certain peacenik SPD parliamentarians can be assuaged.

So there is hope Germany might get it’s fat ass off the track.

FDP is probably out and with that ideological (instead of merely populist) sentiment against spending money, Black-Green looks quite likely and in case anyone is confused yes the Greens are hawkish AF about this one. The discussions around Yugoslavia turned them from singing kumba ya into liberal interventionists and I haven't heard "olive-green" used as an insult in quite a while.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Remember how it took like two days to overturn 70 years of precedence of “no weapons delivery into crisis regions”?

Oh, thanks. Yeah, now I remember making that jump, too, although it took me more than two days. Wild times.

Hofreiter (Greens) put it quite well ... something like ... not our ideals have changed, but the world has changed, brutally so.

I think you did well in dialing back my comment and adding more context, although I still think there was truth in it.

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 4 days ago (24 children)

We (EU) should have unleashed our defense industry 3 years ago. Hopefully, the US MIC received the message, their profits are going to sink unless the orange turd starts to provide military aid to fucking Russia.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago

considering the meeting that just took place in Saudi Arabia, I fear that is entirely possible.

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 4 days ago (3 children)

This is the best thing about a Donald Trump presidency: sometimes good things happen by accident, and it's definitely a good thing for the EU to be depending less on the US.