Tension over US, Russia peace plan

AS WASHINGTON and Moscow engage in talks that could reshape Europe's future, the continent's leaders say their best bet is to stick together.

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But behind the show of unity, which the Europeans are now putting on as much for US President Donald Trump as for Russian President Vladimir Putin, there are deep-rooted differences.

The cracks have emerged in big conversations on how to keep arming Kyiv without US money and how to respond to an increasingly tense confrontation with Russia. Those steering the European ship say the stakes are as high as ever amid Washington’s fresh push for a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, without seemingly wanting European input.

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “We are clearly at a crucial juncture.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described this as a “fateful moment” of European unity. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive body, appealed to the bloc’s 27 nations: “We must remain united.”

As Europeans try to keep outside forces at bay, however, they are wrestling with splits from within, and their politics is swayed by calls to spend the money at home, not on Kyiv. Even trying to defray expenses by using Russia's frozen assets to fund Ukraine has run afoul of tiny Belgium, which holds most of the funds and fears bearing the brunt of any retaliation.

The continent is also divided over how much of a threat Moscow really is, as those on Russia’s borders warn that their neighbors to the west are not being hawkish enough.

This is all without even mentioning Hungary, whose Kremlin-friendly prime minister, Viktor Orban, is seizing on his friendship with Trump and a Ukrainian corruption scandal to bash EU policy.