Free Republic

Meetings between NATO and U.S. defense officials left allies concerned that President Donald Trump would leave Europe to ensure a lasting peace in the war-scarred country.“There’s the dawning reality that this will be Europe making this happen on the ground,” said a NATO diplomat who was briefed on the talks. “The U.S. is not fully committed to anything.” The meetings — which occurred days after Trump and European leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in a sign of unity — underscore the massive task ahead for allies as they weigh plans to send a peacekeeping...

Nine months after invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is beginning to fracture the West. Top European officials are furious with Joe Biden’s administration and now accuse the Americans of making a fortune from the war, while EU countries suffer. “The fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the U.S. because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons,” one senior official told POLITICO. The explosive comments — backed in public and private by officials, diplomats and ministers elsewhere — follow mounting anger...

A much-touted EU fund meant to help countries replace weapons shipped to Ukraine is increasingly unable to cover an influx of reimbursement requests — and it hasn’t even sent out its first payment. Days after Russia’s war began, the EU set up a €‎500 million pot, encouraging countries to arm Kyiv and ask the EU to foot the bill. After looking at the receipts it received, Brussels determined it could cover about 85 percent of the costs, according to estimates shared by three diplomats. Then the EU authorized an even bigger pot — eventually totaling €1.5 billion. That’s when the...