DEFENCE BUDGETS
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Hegseth urges NATO allies to fund more U.S. arms for Ukraine as Kyiv courts Tomahawk maker
The United States on Wednesday pressed NATO partners to finance additional American weaponry for Ukraine, signalling a harder-edged posture towards Moscow as senior Ukrainian officials held talks with U.S. defence manufacturers, including the producer of Tomahawk cruise missiles. Speaking in…
Spain in Trump’s Crosshairs as NATO Tensions Flare Over 5% Military Target
U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting that NATO should consider expelling Spain from the alliance due to its refusal to meet the newly agreed defence spending targets. This proposal has sparked a significant debate about the future of NATO, burden-sharing…
Alona Lebedieva: Delays in implementing reforms could undermine Ukraine’s financial stability
Ukraine is preparing to enter 2026 with a record state budget deficit and a critical dependence on external financial assistance. The draft has been prepared under the same priorities as the current budget — concentrating resources on defence and…
Trump withholds Taiwan security aid as White House pursues talks with Beijing
President Donald Trump declined to approve a US$400 million–plus military aid package for Taiwan over the summer, as his administration seeks a trade agreement and a possible autumn summit with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, according to multiple reports. The move…
Poland’s Sikorski questions value of “security guarantees” for Ukraine, urges focus on funding and arms
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has questioned the usefulness of proposed “security guarantees” for Ukraine, arguing that such pledges would lack credibility without states willing to fight Russia if deterrence failed. Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting…
NATO’s Expenditure Awakening: Europe’s Defence Renaissance, Not Just a Relay Race
There was a time—in the not-so-distant past—when NATO’s annual defence expenditure reports were greeted as regrettable necessities. Europe, it seemed, had other priorities: climate ambitions, social welfare, diplomatic fatigue, and the belief that security would always be outsourced across the…
Europe Braces for Trump’s Troop Gamble, and the Bill That Comes With It
As NATO allies tally up their defence budgets and contingency planners dust off maps of Europe’s eastern flank, one question now looms above all: how far is President Donald Trump prepared to go in scaling back America’s military footprint on…
The EU’s Defence Union Dream May Not Survive Its’ First Clash With Reality
The European Union’s bureaucrats are once again dreaming imperial dreams. This time, it is not a federal treasury, a pan-continental digital currency, or another ill-fated push for “strategic autonomy”—but a “single market for defence”. At the heart of this latest…
A Drone Surge Could Tilt the Balance in Ukraine’s War Against Russia
A large-scale Western-funded expansion of Ukraine’s drone capabilities could decisively alter the course of Russia’s invasion, according to a new analysis by Atlantic Council senior fellow Mark Boris Andrijanič. Writing for the Washington-based think tank, Andrijanič argues that investment in…
SAFE: Europe’s €150bn defence loan fund is a desperate bid to paper over years of military neglect
The European Union’s decision to launch a €150 billion defence loan instrument – dubbed “SAFE” – marks a dramatic departure from decades of post-Cold War complacency. But make no mistake: this is not a show of strength. It is a…