Europe Reacts to Pause in US Military Aid to Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump decided to halt military funding to Kyiv effective immediately on Monday.

(L–R) France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on Mar. 2, 2025. Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

European leaders reacted on Tuesday morning to the news that U.S. President Donald Trump had paused American military aid to Ukraine.

“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” a White House official told The Epoch Times on Monday.

The pause comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump clashed in the Oval Office, which resulted in a U.S.–Ukraine economic deal collapsing.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was one of the continent’s first leaders to respond, saying that a sovereign, pro-western Ukraine that can defend itself means a stronger and safer Poland.

“In the political turmoil and growing chaos, this is what counts most. Whoever questions this obvious truth contributes to Putin’s triumph,” he wrote on social media platform X.

Warsaw’s foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski added that Trump had made the decision without consultation with European allies, saying: “This is a very important decision, and the situation is very serious.

“This sentence may sound banal, but it has great political significance—it was made without any information, or consultation, neither with NATO allies, nor with the Ramstein group, which is involved in supporting Ukraine in its fight,” he told reporters.

France said that Washington’s move only served to strengthen Moscow’s position on the battlefield.

“Fundamentally, if you want peace, does a decision to suspend arms to Ukraine reinforce peace or does it make it more distant? It makes it more distant, because it only strengthens the hand of the aggressor on the ground, which is Russia,” French Junior Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad told France 2.

A British Government spokesman said: “We remain absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine and are engaging with key allies in support of this effort. It is the right thing to do, and is in our interest to do so.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the move meant the EU needed to take considerable measures to strengthen its defenses.

She posted on X: “Two things are now essential for peace through strength: additional aid—military and financial—for Ukraine, which is defending our freedom. And a quantum leap to strengthen our EU defense.”

Denmark’s Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulson told the Ritzau News Agency that the Ukrainians were “completely dependent” on the Americans for their Patriot missiles air defense system.

He added that the pause in funding from Washington now put “Europe in a situation where we now really need to do more ourselves to help Ukraine.”

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the move by Trump meant that Europe must “take full responsibility” for its own security, and that would require increased defense investment and an intensification of support for Kyiv.

He said: “We cannot allow Russia’s aggressive policy, which threatens us all, to succeed,” adding that “the era of relying on others to address fundamental international challenges on our behalf is over.”

Budapest issued a more supportive statement for Trump’s action saying, “The U.S. president and the Hungarian government share the same stance: instead of continuing weapons shipments and the war, a ceasefire and peace talks are needed as soon as possible.”

Kyiv’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the military still had the means to maintain the situation on the front line with Russian forces despite the pause, but told a press conference, “We will continue to work with the U.S. through all available channels in a calm manner.”

Moscow said that pausing U.S. military aid to Ukraine would be the best contribution to the cause of peace, but warned that Russia would need to clarify the details of the move by Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “If this is true, then this is a decision that can really encourage the Kyiv regime to [come to] the peace process.

“It is obvious that the United States has been the main supplier of this war so far. If the United States stops being [an arms supplier] or suspends these supplies, it will probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the United States has sent at least $175 billion in aid, including cash and military equipment, to support Kyiv’s defensive efforts.

Reuters contributed to this report.