Kajsa Ollongren: “We cannot pretend that we’ll just wait and see how the American elections are going.”
The minister said on Tuesday that supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia was a very cheap way of making sure Moscow posed no threat to NATO.
Ollongren confirmed that there was reason for concern, as US aid could be cut off due to election-related politics.
“We cannot pretend that we’ll just wait and see how the American elections are going. Because they have the same interest in a way of course, supporting Ukraine is a very cheap way to make sure that Russia with this regime is not a threat to the NATO alliance. And it’s vital to continue that support.”
However, the fact that NATO support is accelerating, according to the minister, “surprised Ukraine, which surely surprised [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Kremlin.”
We also surprised ourselves I think that what we are capable of a lot, and we have proven that in the past year and a half, and the only thing we have to do is keep it up.
The Defence Secretary also stressed that a reduction in US support could “substantially” affect the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
