Europe supports Zelenskiy under pressure from Trump... Pointing out that ‘the U.S. cannot be replaced’

European countries have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine, which is at war with Russia.

In a situation where the US administration of Donald Trump is threatening to stop sharing information with Ukraine in order to pressure it to accept an energy truce with Russia, Europe has stepped up to provide support.

The New York Times reported on the 14th (local time) that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and promised to strengthen military and economic support.

Mr Burnham pledged to supply Ukraine with new air defense missiles effective against Russia, saying "we will deploy them as quickly as possible".

King Charles III also expressed his support for Ukraine by meeting with President Zelenskyy for 25 minutes at Buckingham Palace.

The UK also arranged for an honor guard from the Irish Guards, a member of the British Army, to greet President Zelenskiy when he visits the Prime Minister's residence.

Foreign media outlets, including Politico, interpreted it as a measure to symbolically show Britain's support for Ukraine, as it is unusual for an honor guard to inspect the Prime Minister's residence when a foreign leader visits the Prime Minister's residence.

Mark Rutte, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), called for support to strengthen Ukraine's air defense capabilities in a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Christen Michal.

Secretary-General Rutte said, “Putin is trying to weaken our resolve and cut off support for Ukraine, but Russia is losing on the battlefield and we will not give in,” emphasizing the need for strengthened support from the alliance.

“With winter approaching and Russian aggression continuing without pause, our allies must play a greater role, especially in terms of air defense support,” he said.

“We must continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that Ukraine gets what it needs and remains strong in the fight,” he said.

Estonia announced that it would provide 10 million euros (approximately 15.09 billion won) in support to Ukraine through the 'Ukraine Priority Requirements List' (PURL), an American weapons procurement system.

PURL is a system in which Ukraine's allies purchase American weapons at their own expense and then supply them to Ukraine.

The reason why Europe is so eager to pledge support is because there are concerns that the security cooperation between Ukraine and the United States may be disrupted due to the recent energy truce issue.

After President Trump and President Zelenskyy clashed over the transit deal between the U.S. and Russia, early warnings about Russian ballistic missiles provided by the U.S. suddenly stopped and Starlink services were also unexpectedly restricted in speed, raising these concerns.

However, some point out that no matter how much Europe claims to be the backbone, it cannot replace the support of the United States.

Since the United States' security support capabilities are superior to those of other countries, losing it would inevitably be a major blow to Ukraine.

Thomas Worthington, a researcher at the Royal Joint Military Institute (RUSI), said the capabilities of European intelligence agencies are "quite outstanding," but pointed out that information shared between individual countries may be fragmented or duplicated, slowing down the speed of information sharing.

He explained, “It is not impossible for Europe to replicate the U.S. information sharing,” but “If the U.S. provides additional capabilities, the weight of information becomes greater, and that is why U.S. support is very important.”