European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it clear today that "Europe must prepare for war" with Russia, although reputable American media outlets are reporting that Washington wants Moscow and Kiev to make peace and end the war in Ukraine by Easter, April 20th.
The French newspaper Le Figaro assessed that Donald Trump's arrival in the White House and the belief that the US would reduce its military forces for security in Europe, "has caused panic and a stampede among EU members, like when a fox breaks into a chicken coop."
"European partners," states Figaro, "belatedly realized how vulnerable they are to the Russian threat."
EU member states, with the exception of Hungary, have supported the EC's plan to strengthen European defense by investing hundreds of billions of euros, but differences are still visible in the assessments of EU partners on whether the threat of war with Russia is realistic.
European partners are also very divided on whether these billions of euros should be raised through government borrowing.
Military analysts in Europe are divided over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin (although he would have to conquer all of Ukraine first) would even want to conquer any part of Europe, or, as some say, "restore the Soviet Union."
The political goal and strategy here are not very clear, although everyone agrees that it would require millions of new soldiers, an additional huge military industry, and overall - exceptional economic strength.
Steve Witkoff, the White House mediator in negotiations with Kiev and Moscow, however, said he "believes Putin doesn't want to conquer another part of Europe...or to take over all of Ukraine."
US President Donald Trump is confident of reaching an agreement with Putin on a peace solution for Ukraine and opening up new great opportunities for economic ventures.
However, in a discussion on the war in Ukraine at the Danish Military Academy, the EC President firmly emphasized that Europe must arm itself and that, given the threat of war, EU citizens must also provide themselves with the necessary supplies to survive independently for at least 72 hours without help.
The head of the EC, among others, is agreed with the head of Polish diplomacy, Radosław Sikorski, who warned that Poland and Europe must be prepared for a possible attack by Russia.
Although Czech National Security Advisor Tomas Pojar, for example, thinks that a realistic outcome of the war would be for Ukraine to retain most, though not all, of its territory.
Prominent American political analyst Graham Ellison, moreover, points out that the time has come for Ukraine to "negotiate an ugly but lasting peace."
The American agency Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that the White House wants and plans to establish a ceasefire in the war between Moscow and Kiev by Easter.
In anticipation of the announcement of the US-Russian negotiations in Riyadh, information has appeared in the media on the other side of the Atlantic that peace solutions for Zaporozhye and the Black Sea region are already being considered.
In the debate between "butter and guns" in Europe, the front of European partners has cracks and, as Le Figaro reports, Spain and Italy and their citizens are, for example, far less willing than Poles, Scandinavians and the Baltic countries to invest hundreds of billions of euros in weapons production.
But French President Emmanuel Macron, although he wants peace in Ukraine, is convinced that Europe, because America is evading its security shield, must significantly strengthen its defense, and investing in the military industry also means more jobs and economic growth.
The expected new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has already managed to get approval from parliament for a trillion-dollar new investment in weapons, but also in infrastructure.
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