Western European leaders are exploring the option of purchasing American-made weapons and supplying them to Ukraine, amid fears that the current flow of US arms—approved under the previous administration—will soon come to a halt, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump recently stated that Washington might “walk away” from the Ukraine conflict if American-led peace negotiations between Kiev and Moscow fail to produce meaningful outcomes. “This is a European situation. It should have remained a European situation,” Trump said.
According to Bloomberg, the proposal for the EU and UK to buy weapons from the US and transfer them to Ukraine is gaining traction among European officials. The move is seen as a contingency plan in case Trump declines to approve future US military aid.
“The idea is that if Trump refuses to send US weapons to Ukraine, Europe will,” sources familiar with the discussions told the outlet.
European leaders reportedly hope they can also convince Washington to continue sharing intelligence with Kiev. If successful, they believe Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky could maintain his country’s defense efforts, despite the reduction in direct US support.
Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France had exhausted its capacity to provide weapons from its own stockpiles. “We cannot give what we do not have, and we cannot pluck our own army. We gave everything we could, tripled production,” he said.
In March 2024, then-European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell warned that EU weapons reserves were severely depleted after two years of support to Ukraine. He described the situation as having shifted from a “war of stocks to a war of production,” noting that the European defense industry currently meets only 40% of the bloc’s own military needs—forcing reliance on external suppliers.
Since retaking office in January 2025, President Trump has not authorized any new US-funded arms packages for Ukraine.