German defense minister warns of ‘worst-case’ US election scenario – Reuters
Washington could ‘distance itself’ from Europe and Ukraine conflict following 2024 election, says Boris Pistorius
European NATO members could face big problems continuing to support kyiv in its conflict with Russia after the 2024 US elections, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has warned. Washington’s aid to Ukraine will likely be reduced regardless of the results of the vote, he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.
The United States will have to pay more attention to the Indo-Pacific region after 2024, even if a “pro-European” president wins the elections next year, believes Pistorius. A “worst case” scenario could just as easily spell the end of Western support for kyiv, the minister warned.
“If the worst case [scenario] come to life and an American president, who has distanced himself from Europe and NATO, moves into the White House, we will have challenges that are currently unimaginable,” said Pistorius. Europe will then have to “compensate for” for the reduction of American commitments in the defense of the military bloc, warned the minister, adding that it would be “in addition to what we are already doing today.”
Pistorius also said that Germany’s defense problems would hardly be solved by then. The supply and funding problems that the German army, the Bundeswehr, has been facing for years are unlikely to be resolved before 2030, the minister admitted. He also said that the Bundeswehr’s stocks are limited and notably refused to promise more German-made tanks to Ukraine.
The minister did not specify which victory in the presidential elections of 2024 he would envisage “the worst of cases” script. Yet several potential high-profile GOP candidates, including former President Donald Trump, have already questioned support for Ukraine, raising concerns in Kyiv.
In March, Trump said that if he were to be re-elected, kyiv should expect “There will be a little more money coming from us.” Another potential candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, described the conflict as a “territorial dispute” and that it was not in the interest of the United States to become more actively involved in it.
US President Joe Biden, whose administration secured $112 billion in Ukraine-related funding from Congress last year, has also been repeatedly criticized by some Republicans for what they have called the redaction of ‘A “blank check” for Kyiv.
In late March, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told The Associated Press (AP) that he was concerned about the potential decline in US support and said that “If they stop helping us, we won’t win.”
You can share this story on social media:
rt Gt
