Terry Schultz
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
Terry Schultz has more. Now, this is going to require a lot more money, sustained funding, sustained weapons transfers to Ukraine. And eventually, the Europeans say several countries are willing to put their own troops on the ground to monitor a ceasefire. But there's a big contingency clause here. This will require American help and backup to keep Russia on its side of a ceasefire line.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
asked whether he thought Donald Trump would agree to this. Starmer said he'd spoken with Trump last night and would not be moving ahead if he wasn't confident of that. Terry Schultz reporting.
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EU countries have long acknowledged they need to boost their military spending in the face of Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says new financing options are being considered, such as loosening rules on maximum national debt or sharing costs of major weapons systems. For extraordinary times, it is possible to have extraordinary measures.
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But EU leaders also focused on rallying a united response to potential hostile actions from Washington. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. You cannot lose our European self-respect and self-confidence. Trump says he plans to impose tariffs on the EU, but hasn't said when. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
Good morning. Well, you can really feel the worry here in a way I haven't seen since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started three years ago. And interestingly, that isn't because Moscow is doing anything differently. It's been relentlessly attacking Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
The difference is this rapid deterioration of relations between the Trump administration and Ukraine, the spat between the presidents in the Oval Office last week, and as you mentioned, the subsequent suspension of military assistance and now intelligence sharing, which is essential to Ukraine on the battlefield.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
Well, today I expect leaders to move forward. Now, whether they can reach the required unanimity yet is unclear. But there's a new package of proposals on how they can come up with 800 billion euros. That's more than 860 billion dollars in defense spending.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
That would be partly in loans backed up by the EU for buying new weapons, and partly by setting aside EU penalties on having too much debt so that governments can now drastically increase their military spending.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
Well, yeah, going into more debt isn't popular, but I spoke with former Dutch Defense Minister Kaise Ollengren about this, and she said that politicians and officials just need to help their people understand that U.S. unpredictability means it's urgent now to mobilize all the tools they have available. to scale up both their domestic defense and support for Ukraine.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
If you boil it down, I think it comes down to turning the European economy into a war economy. These are difficult choices and you have to explain them to people, but it has to be done. Now, earlier suggestions to declare a war economy in Europe didn't get traction because many leaders felt it was too drastic. and would unnecessarily scare people. So you can see how things have changed.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
Well, they're at least seriously considering those scenarios, including researcher Giuseppe Spadafora with the EU Institute of Security Studies. He told me that even the fear of the U.S. disengaging could destabilize the transatlantic relationship further.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
So Spadafora says Europeans' concern about this possibility may end up leading them to make policy decisions in favor of the Trump administration.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
Well, French President Emmanuel Macron has really tried to be that leader. And as the head of one of two nuclear powers in Europe, he has a lot of weight in defense issues. So in an evening address, he said he'll call together European army chiefs to discuss a potential peacekeeping force and says he's even considering extending the French nuclear deterrent over the rest of Europe.
Up First from NPR
EU Leaders On Ukraine, Auto Tariffs Paused, USDA Workers Return
The future of Europe does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow, he said. So EU leaders hope to decide some things about their future here in Brussels today.