OPINION — “Crucial half proper now could be that Europe would have the ability to purchase navy tools right here within the U.S. so we are able to donate these navy techniques on to Ukraine. That can be dialogue occurring proper now. I believe [President] Trump is on the correct path right here. I believe he has promised that might be a risk. We’re speaking in these hours about 10 Patriot [missile defense] techniques and I believe the result of that dialogue will likely be that European international locations will have the ability to purchase the Patriot techniques after which donate them on to Ukraine and that is vital as a result of the discussions two months in the past had been, the truth is, that there have been no extra to purchase right here within the U.S. So the result of the dialogue proper now could be transferring in a greater path.”
That was Denmark’s Protection Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, talking one week in the past on the Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research (CSIS), the place he appeared together with Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Minister of International Affairs. They mentioned not simply Ukraine and NATO, but in addition their relations with the U.S., Greenland, the vital minerals subject and Denmark’s targets in taking on the Presidency of the European Union (EU) for the subsequent six months.
The 2 had been in Washington for a number of days of assembly with senior Trump officers, and Members of Congress, partly as a result of Denmark has assumed the Presidency of the European Union and plans to make navy preparedness an indicator of the nation’s six month management time period.
Final Tuesday, Poulsen defined the reasoning for European nations to purchase weapons from the U.S. for Ukraine, which Trump and NATO Secretary Normal Mark Rutte introduced on the White Home yesterday. He and Rasmussen additionally defined the background of the European nations’ decision-making in addition to their views of actions right here in Washington and the remainder of the world.
International Minister Rasmussen gave his personal evaluation of the scenario in Moscow, saying, “You should not overestimate the facility of Russia. I imply now we have weakened the [Russian] financial system. They’re now on a struggle footing so to talk. They spend extra on navy than in well being and schooling and all the things civilized mixed. They’ve enormous casualties, excessive inflation. I imply if it was a extra open clear society with some type of inner discussions, issues would have been very, very, totally different. If you happen to examine the casualties with what they misplaced in Afghanistan and determined to withdraw, it is a lot worse.”
A former two-time Danish Prime Minister, Rasmussen continued, “However in fact it is a closed society and it’s a one-man-takes-all-decisions-kind-of-society. It isn’t a democracy, however it’s inside our palms, so to talk, to truly crash Putin and his struggle machine.”
Rasmussen then added, “The large query is whether or not we [Denmark and the other NATO and EU countries] have, you understand, the readiness, the willingness to take action, and right here in fact we’d like the U.S. I imply it goes with out saying that Europe has to pay an even bigger a part of the invoice. We do. We [Europe] now account for like 70% of the whole assist to Ukraine. That quantity will go up, however we’d like the U.S. on board as nicely, not least once we are speaking sanctions and stress on Putin.”
As Rasmussen identified, tiny Denmark provides fairly a bit by itself. “We’re the fourth greatest contributor to Ukraine,” he mentioned, “so it is like U.S., U.Ok. [United Kingdom], Germany, after which Denmark. Per capita, we’re to this point the largest. We spend like plus 1,500 Euros [$1,754] per capita in Denmark. It is greater than the double in comparison with the second greatest spender in Europe.”
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As for U.S. arms, “We’d like extra pace in our procurements from the U.S.,” Poulsen mentioned. “It’s too lengthy to get the wanted capabilities and proper now we’re certainly in want for these capabilities. In order that’s my essential goal to be right here [in Washington].”
Poulsen added, “Trump is sort of a lot conscious of that. And in addition [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth and [Secretary of State] Mario Rubio [both of whom they had met with]. They’re conscious that they’ve to hurry up all these processes — an excessive amount of crimson tape in delivering to Europe. And once we are coming to U.S. saying we want to purchase much more navy tools, then I do not assume the reply ought to be you must wait seven or eight years to get it.”
Poulsen additionally mentioned, “Europe will do extra and I believe the result of the scenario in Ukraine can be the demanding query for Europe to have the ability to make investments extra and likewise construct up extra [military] capability,” which he described as among the many “classes discovered from Ukraine.”
At one level Rasmussen mentioned he had met briefly with Trump throughout the June NATO assembly at The Hague. “I advised him once we met final time after I was prime minister, we solely spent like 1.5 p.c [of the nation’s GDP] in Denmark [for our defense spending]…Then the entire thing occurred in Ukraine. Now there’s completely new sense of urgency. This 12 months Denmark spends 3.2 p.c, precisely the identical as U.S. It’s a clear dedication from our authorities that we are going to meet the three.5 p.c [NATO goal by 2035].”
Ukraine has proven itself to be very robust in creating new and modern protection firms, they each mentioned, however funding in arms manufacturing exterior Ukraine is what they talked about. Rasmussen mentioned, “Mainly it is about shopping for from Ukraine to Ukraine.”
He described that when the struggle began Ukraine had a weapons trade of some $3 billion, however it’s now as much as $40 billion, though Ukrainians “solely have finance for half of it.”
Rasmussen mentioned a solution has been that “we [the Danes] have spent our personal cash and we even have the respect to be the facilitator of a few of these [Russian] frozen belongings or the curiosity linked to the frozen asset. So that’s the foundation of the Danish mannequin and now we’re engaged on making, you understand, actual investments…with our Ukrainian pals to arrange Ukrainian investments in Denmark to present them some type of secure haven.”
Different European international locations have adopted, and along with the Ukrainians they’re producing arms not only for Ukraine, however for their very own militaries. “We ought to be impressed of what the Ukrainians lesson discovered from their battlefield,” Rasmussen mentioned, “and that is why it is sensible additionally to speculate not solely to help them [Ukrainians], but in addition to make some type of know-how transferring from Ukraine to our personal navy.”
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Poulsen mentioned the primary pilot venture was final July, when Denmark paid for 18 Bohdana self-propelled 155 mm howitzers that Ukraine had created by itself. “They had been produced in two months,” Poulsen mentioned. “Ought to now we have been capable of purchase them in Europe, it’s going to have taken two years. So in two months they had been capable of produce the Bohdana techniques. It was very low-cost and the spare components, the upkeep, all that type of factor are, in fact, being carried out immediately close to the entrance line. So it has been an enormous success and proper now we’re trying into additionally growing new capabilities or finance new capabilities for the protection firms in Ukraine. That will be missiles, that might be drones. It is beneath Ukrainian protection calls for that they ask for this and we reimburse [pay for] the contracts.”
With some $20 billion from Europeans and others out there, Poulsen defined, “one of the best ways we are able to do for our pals in Ukraine to maintain up combating is the truth is to present cash immediately into the [Ukraine] protection firms.”
Poulsen known as it Danish mannequin 2.0. and mentioned, “That is to ask a few of the [Ukraine] protection firms to have a secure haven in Denmark to provide what they are going to want in Ukraine, hopefully all additionally in Germany and different European international locations.”
Poulsen additionally described a brand new strategy involving Denmark, Germany and Nordic international locations — collectively shopping for weapons techniques.
For example, Poulsen mentioned that Denmark, Norway and Sweden are trying into shopping for the P-8A Poseidon U.S. Navy multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane. He mentioned it was a functionality they have already got in Norway and Germany, however “not shopping for it ourselves [individually]…we’ll even have some capabilities that we may use along with Sweden and Norway…In order that would be the method ahead.”
As for Greenland, Rasmussen mentioned he didn’t actually focus on the matter in any depth when he met with Rubio as a result of “we [the Danes] have the slogan ‘nothing about Greenland with out Greenland [being present].’ Although the overseas safety coverage [of Greenland] is, you understand, the Danish authorities’s accountability, now we have developed an excellent custom or customized that if we’re, you understand, actually negotiating with the third international locations about these points we can have our Greenlandic colleague [with us].”
Greenland, he mentioned, was mentioned “in a extra typically method.”
Rasmussen mentioned the Danes had been “taken without warning” by Trump’s announcement that for each U.S. nationwide safety and worldwide safety it was essential that Washington annex Greenland.
Rasmussen, who was Danish Prime Minister from 2016-to-2019 throughout Trump’s first time period, mentioned, “I’ve skilled with Trump so many instances that no matter he says…and no matter he proposes there’s all the time some type of rational substance behind it. I imply, and we share the view, that now we have to be current within the Arctic differently. However it should not be in a battle between the dominion of Denmark and U.S. It ought to be by combining forces and now we have the framework for that.”
He defined that the Danes “have been pushing for together with [the] Arctic within the functionality targets in NATO. And, to some extent, we had been profitable. There’s now a type of principal settlement among the many NATO Arctic international locations, together with U.S., that that is one thing we must always do beneath the framework of the NATO.”
Rasmussen added, “So it is not that the Greenlandic subject is solved. I believe as a result of aside from these rational arguments, I am unable to do away with the concept there’s additionally simply this [Trump] imaginative and prescient of making an even bigger U.S. and we are able to, in fact, not accommodate that.”
Rasmussen added, “I have to say I depart Washington a bit extra optimistic in comparison with after I arrived. I believe the assertion made by the president [Trump] after his [most recent] phone conversations with [Russian President] Putin and [Ukraine President] Zelensky show that he now to a bigger extent share our evaluation of the scenario. I imply it was a bit complicated earlier this 12 months when he had Zelensky within the Oval Workplace who’s the unhealthy man, who’s the nice man. That has shifted. I believe the [Hague] NATO summit was additionally vital. I imply I actually really feel and assume he [Trump] has maybe essentially the most constructive view on Europe he has had for some time, at the very least.”
All that has turned out to have been lifelike. Let’s hope Trump stays on his present trajectory.
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