Europe must assume responsibility for supporting Ukraine and its own conventional defence – Pentagon
The United States expects Europe to assume primary responsibility for its own conventional defence and take the lead in supporting Ukraine.
US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby said this at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Censor.NET reports, citing European Pravda.
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"We are... having a substantive conversation about how we can move forward together in a world in which Europe – which is obviously a very wealthy continent–can and already is assuming primary responsibility for its own conventional defence. Of course, the United States remains in NATO and (remains) committed to the Alliance here," Colby said.
"Europe is also taking the lead in supporting Ukraine," Hegseth’s deputy added.
At the same time, he noted that he wanted to hear the views of NATO allies on these positions.
Colby also confirmed that the United States had indeed sent European allies a questionnaire asking them to provide their assessments and plans for Europe’s future assumption of responsibility for conventional defence.
"We wanted to hear directly from the allies, in writing, in the spirit of NATO 3.0 – regarding European-led conventional defence, but with an understanding of how, over time, we will manage the extraordinary investments by governments such as Poland, Germany... the Netherlands and many others. We hope others will join as well," he explained.
Colby stressed that "Europe remains a critical interest of the United States, even as we prioritise the Western Hemisphere".
