Europe braces for a war as the U.S. is still split over the border issue: highlights from Western media

Authors

Hennadii Kats , Artur Gmyria

Europe braces for a war: highlights from Western media

European military leaders urge their nations to be preparing for a possible war with Russia. Europeans are especially worried about Donald Trump, who had already threatened to take the country from NATO during his previous term in office and is likely to be elected U.S. president again.

Trump also calls on congressional Republicans not to pass the border security bill, upon which a $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine is conditioned. Meanwhile, Ukraine is speeding up preparations for the construction of four new power units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP, which will compensate for the loss of the Zaporizhia NPP seized by the Russians.

offers a digest of Western mass media at the end of the January 22–26, 2024, business week.

Europe bracing for a war with Russia

A wave of anxiety has gripped European defense ministers and armed forces, The Guardian reports. Military and political leaders of the EU are concerned that NATO-skeptic Donald Trump is likely to be elected as the next president of the U.S. and that Ukraine might not beat Russia on the battlefield.

At the same time, tensions in the Middle East have continued to rise:

Israel’s assault on Gaza continues;
Hostilities with Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon increase;
The U.S. and the U.K. launched bombing raids on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen to halt raids on shipping in the Red Sea.

Ruined buildings in central Gaza. According to Haaretz, civilians account for 61% of all people killed in air raids in Gaza. Photo: Getty Images

Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO’s military committee, said at the opening of the Steadfast Defender exercise that it was "not a given that we are in peace" and that therefore the Alliance must be preparing for a conflict with Russia and the terror groups. Grant Shapps, the British defense secretary, also said that the United Kingdom and its allies were "moving from a postwar to a prewar world."

Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, gave an interview last week saying that German experts expected a period of five to eight years in which a Russian attack could be possible, although it was not likely for now. Norway and Sweden have also made similar warnings in the past month.

European generals: Preparing for a war is up to everyone

According to Politico, General Patrick Sanders, Chief of the British General Staff, on Wednesday called on the British authorities to "mobilize the nation" to prepare for a war with Russia. Sanders stressed the need to increase the number of troops to at least 120,000, including reserves. He also urges civilians to be mentally ready to defend their country.

"Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them," said the general.

The British government expressed its discontent at the general’s speech. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that talk of "hypothetical scenarios" regarding future conflicts was "not helpful."

Fighting is ongoing near Avdiivka, a town almost leveled by Russian shelling, like Marinka and Bakhmut. Photo: Getty Images

General Valdemaras Rupšys, the commander of Lithuania's armed forces, on the contrary, believes the probability of a war between Russia and NATO to be "extremely low" as the forces of the aggressor's western military district are fully engaged in Ukraine. Still, the general praised the ongoing preparations for potential conflict by NATO countries.

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia agreed to set up a common Baltic defense zone on their borders with Russia and Belarus amid growing security concerns last Friday. Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs also called on Finland and Poland to join the Baltic defense zone.

"Aid to Ukraine for border security": Trump strives to undermine the Congress deal

According to The Washington Post, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell privately acknowledged on Thursday that former president Donald Trump’s opposition to the deal on border security and aid to Ukraine has complicated its future.

Republicans demanded stringent border policy changes to pass $60 billion in Ukraine aid requested by the White House. A small group of Senate negotiators are closing in on a deal, but Trump has publicly slammed it, and a significant number of Republican senators have begun to speak out against the deal.

In a closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon, McConnell, who is pushing for Ukraine funding, acknowledged that the party’s politics have changed given Trump’s likely presidential nomination, according to anonymous sources.

Donald Trump in New Hampshire, after winning the second state on his way to the Republican nomination on January 23. Photo: Getty Images

Several McConnell allies said Thursday that the leader was not casting doubt on the deal, but was rather acknowledging the daunting political reality of the task as Trump, who wants to run on a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"What is currently being worked on in the Senate will be meaningless in terms of Border Security and Closure," Trump said in a statement Thursday evening, adding that the "ONLY HOPE" for a secure border is voting for him.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally and also one of the most pro-Ukrainian republicans, has argued in recent days that a border deal would not affect the presidential election — a sign that Senate Republicans are attempting to publicly convince the president not to kill the deal.

GOP leaders have said they want the eventual bill to attract at least half of the Republican conference, in order for it to have a greater chance of passing the GOP-controlled House. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News recently that Trump was "extremely adamant" that the deal should be rejected.

Ukraine will build new power units to compensate for the Zaporizhzhia NPP

Ukraine expects to start construction work on four new nuclear power reactors this summer or autumn, Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Reuters on Thursday. Two of the units will be based on Russian-made equipment that Ukraine wants to import from Bulgaria, while the other two will use Western technology from power equipment maker Westinghouse.

All four reactors will be built at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in the west of Ukraine, Galushchenko added. The ministry plans to do the third and fourth units, which began in the 1980s but was frozen, right away.

Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant

Today three nuclear power plants in Ukraine-controlled territory produce more than 55% of the country's electricity needs, but Kyiv wants to expand the sector to help compensate for the loss of Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear plant.

"If we received the reactor vessels [from Bulgaria] today, I think it would be 2.5 years and we would have a third reactor on line," Galushchenko said.

In parallel with the construction of the Soviet-era VVER-1000 units, Ukraine wants to start preparatory construction work to accommodate two modern Western AP-1000 units, also at Khmelnytskyi. The ministry expects the parliament to pass the necessary legislation.

In December, Ukraine's nuclear power firm Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement on the purchase of equipment for Khmelnytskyi's 5th power unit.