# Ukraine’s allies had no notice of Trump freezing military aid, Poland says

Rattled European politicians reaffirm backing for Kyiv and call for ‘quantum leap’ in strengthening EU’s defence

 Europe correspondent  
Tue 4 Mar 2025 08.19 EST  
Last modified on Tue 4 Mar 2025 12.03 EST

Ukraine’s allies were not told in advance of Donald Trump’s , Poland’s foreign ministry has said, as rattled European politicians reaffirmed their backing for Kyiv faced with dramatic further evidence of a US policy shift.

The US president’s announcement “was made without any information or consultation, neither with Nato allies nor with the Ramstein group which is involved in supporting ,” the ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński said on Tuesday.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, told a cabinet meeting in Warsaw that  faced unprecedented risks, including “the biggest in the last few decades when it comes to security”.

Tusk said his government would have to make some “extraordinary” decisions. “A decision was announced to suspend the US aid for Ukraine, and perhaps start lifting sanctions on Russia. We don’t have any reason to think these are just words,” he said.

“This puts Europe, Ukraine, Poland in a more difficult situation,” he said, adding that Warsaw was determined to “intensify activities in Europe to increase our defence capabilities” while maintaining the best possible relations with the US.

The French prime minister, François Bayrou, said the US decision to freeze weapons aid to Ukraine while it was at war signalled that Washington was “abandoning the country under attack, and accepting – or desiring – that the aggressor wins”. It was Europe’s responsibility to replace that aid, he said.

Bayrou told parliament that Europeans “are going to have to think about our model, about our priorities and to look at the world differently … We have seen it is more dangerous than we had though, coming from those we thought were allies”.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said: “Two things are now essential for peace through strength: additional aid - military and financial - for Ukraine, which is defending our freedom. And a quantum leap to strengthen our EU defence.”

The European Commission insisted that the US remained “an ally”, saying that it was “not up to us to comment on decisions or announcements that are made on the other side of the Atlantic”.

Deputy chief spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker told reporters: “We know that it’s important to support Ukraine also in its defence – also to make sure that it’s in a better negotiating place.”

EU leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss a  presented by the European commission to bolster Europe’s defence industry, increase military capability and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who hosted a crisis meeting of European and other leaders on Sunday, said London was “absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine” and was engaging with key allies. The spokesperson said the prime minister had spoken to Trump twice over the weekend and again on Monday night.

The spokesperson said the UK had already committed to provide Ukraine with £3bn a year in military aid for as long as it took and was providing a £2.26bn loan using sanctioned Russian assets.

The Czech Republic’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, said Ukraine was “completely dependent” on some US aid, including Patriot missiles. “So this will put Europe in a situation where we now really need to do more ourselves to help Ukraine,” he said.

Only Hungary’s illiberal government struck a discordant note, with a spokesperson for the country’s Moscow-friendly prime minister, Viktor Orbán, saying the US and Hungary shared the same stance. “Instead of continuing weapons shipments and the war, a ceasefire and peace talks are needed as soon as possible,” they said.

 Europe correspondent

Tue 4 Mar 2025 08.19 EST  
Last modified on Tue 4 Mar 2025 12.03 EST
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