Europe must be ready to deter Russia as the “shadow of war” looms, a minister has warned, echoing alarming words from the head of Nato.
Armed forces minister Al Carns said countries need to “increase our lethality” and stop outsourcing it to others.
His warning comes after Nato secretary general Mark Rutte called Europe “Russia’s next target” and said countries must prepare for a “scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”.
Precarious peace efforts surrounding a US-led plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are ongoing, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisting US president Donald Trump and his European counterparts are aligned on what they want for Kyiv.
But relations between Europe and the US are strained after the Trump administration’s national security strategy accused European officials of holding “unrealistic expectations” for the invasion.
Mr Carns told The Telegraph: “For the last 50 to 60 years, we have been reliant on US security guarantees and now, with multipolar threats facing the US, they may not be as forthright as they have in the past.”
While Mr Trump has agreed he is “fully in” Nato and its Article 5 collective defence clause, “there is a resource issue where they need to look both east and west”, he said.
“In the past, in wars of choice, we’ve outsourced our lethality to others. We’ve got to make sure that we increase our lethality … across all of our single services.”
Having “outsourced” to the US in the past, Europe and the UK have now pledged to “up our game on defence spending”, he said.
He added: “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more. That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it. Collectively in Nato, we’ve got to remember that numerically – we outmatch Russia significantly.”
Ukraine has pushed back against a US-drafted plan and submitted its own 20-point document to Washington as part of negotiations.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the US has proposed a possible “free economic zone” in the Donbas region, which would see Ukrainian forces withdraw and Russia agree to remain where they are and not enter the territory.
He reportedly said there would need to be elections or a referendum for Ukraine to approve any such move.
The UK and French-led coalition of the willing group of countries on Thursday discussed progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets to use to fund Ukraine and agreed it was a “pivotal moment” for Kyiv and the Euro-Atlantic region.
