 "Ruben Brekelmans at Raisina Dialogue x Firstpost Ideas Pod. Image credit: Firstpost")
Ahead of the much-anticipated Putin-Trump talks on the Ukraine war, the Netherlands has warned Europe to get “its act together” as negotiations are underway to bring peace to the country.
Talking to Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) at Firstpost’s IdeasPod as part of the annual Raisina Dialogue organised by ORF in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Netherlands Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that the European Union is in touch with both the US and Ukraine. He, however, added that “we need to get our act together” as a bloc.
When asked what Europe thinks about the negotiations that seem to suggest that each side has to make concessions and how the bloc is responding to the truce talks, Brekelmans said, “We are working hard to come up with a proposal on how a military engagement by European countries could look like. I think it’s very important that we do this homework quickly because otherwise we know we will not have a seat at the table. But we are now working on this and I think we’re making progress on this.”
‘Europe needs to do more for its security’
Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s “shifting focus”, the Netherlands Defence Minister said that Europe needs to improve its defence for its own security.
“I think what’s fundamental is that we keep our defence and deterrence in order. So any Russian demands on troops pulling back from former Soviet states is unacceptable because we in NATO and in the EU, decide on our own defence,” he said.
Brekelmans added that Europe should be more self-reliant and invest more in its security. “We need to do more as European countries ourselves, so we need to invest more. There are also some strategic capabilities in which we are fully dependent on the United States. What we need to do is create a common road map with them so that we can also show overtime how we are taking over some of the responsibilities so the United States can put their attention and some of their strategic resources elsewhere.”
‘Can’t reward Russia’
Brekelmans said that steps must be taken to stop the Russian aggression but they should not be “rewarding to Russia” because a scenario like that would cause more hostility that would not only affect Ukraine but also the rest of Europe.
“So what we should do in the short term is make sure that we keep supporting Ukraine, that they will hold the line and they will have a stronger position at the negotiation table. We need to create peace through strength, which means that we need to create robust security guarantees in Ukraine so that Russia is not able to regroup itself and to prepare for future aggression in Ukraine.”