Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argues Putin only showed an interest in peace with Trump when he suggested he would let Ukraine use Tomahawks — and as soon as Trump took the cruise missiles off the table, Russia backtracked on peace.
So should Trump give Zelenskyy the missiles he wants? “I really hope that they can get the capabilities that they need to [counter]strike Russia and defend themselves,” Orpo said. “We know that this is a question between Zelenskyy and the United States and I really hope they can find a solution.”
On Thursday, EU leaders in Brussels aim to make progress on a plan to raid Russia’s frozen financial assets for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine. One question is what sort of conditions the EU should attach to the loan, which could be worth as much as €140 billion, enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for two or three years.
France is reportedly leading the push to make Ukraine spend the money on weapons manufactured in Europe. Some other countries, including Sweden, are said to want Ukraine to be able to choose how to use the loan.
Orpo argues Europe must have a say. “I don’t think that whole freedom is the best way,” he said. “We give loans and so we need to do it in good cooperation with them … we need to know that they will use this huge amount of money in a responsible way.”
That means, where possible, buying European. “I hope that they can buy more and more weapons from Europe,” Orpo said. “But we know that we don’t have all those capabilities and weapons in Europe that they need. So it’s reality that they also must be allowed to buy from the U.S., if needed.”
He added: “This is not only a question of Tomahawks. If we can find a solution on how we can finance Ukraine strongly and find a long-term solution using frozen assets it will be so strong a message to Putin that he understands that he cannot win this war. This can be a game changer.”