As Trump freezes Ukraine aid, will Europe turn to Turkey for weapons systems?
Manned aircraft, warships and electronic-warfare platforms, and electro-optics seem to be in the lead for future defense trade between European countries and Turkey.
As US President Donald Trump suspends military aid to Ukraine and US treaty commitments to NATO seem to be in jeopardy, European countries are scrambling to rebuild their militaries and defense industries to deter future Russian aggression.
In this context, Turkey, once erroneously referred to as “Russia’s Trojan horse in NATO,” is now looking like a logical partner for Europe thanks to both its status as NATO’s second-largest military and its defense-industrial prowess.
Following the combative showdown between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, the US president temporarily suspended all military and economic aid to Ukraine on Monday.
While EU leaders were unable to establish a clear rearmament strategy during their inaugural defense summit in Brussels on Feb. 8, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday unveiled a plan to boost European defense spending by 800 billion euros (roughly $869 billion) over the next four years, in the face of the major policy reversal by the Trump administration.
