Pedestrians walk towards a Ukrainian national flag flying at half mast due to bad weather, next to the Motherland Monument at the WWII open-air museum in Kyiv on April 18, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Some European countries supporting Ukraine with weapons to fight against Russia in the ongoing war have vowed to continue their backing of the Zelensky government, even if the US withdraws its support for Kyiv under Donald Trump.
But experts believe Europe has no capacity to sustain their support for Ukraine because they faced bad economic times.
International relations analyst, Dr Oscar van Heerden said without the US, Europe was too weak to continue the fight and that Europe was facing massive political and economic instability in its backyard.
Van Heerden, from the University of Johannesburg, doubted European strength to sustain its military support for Ukraine.
“Europe is no longer a force to be reckoned with. The situation in Europe is a definitive microcosm of how the world is changing. Their own economies are in trouble, if Zelensky is looking up to Europe only for support, he is fooling himself,” he said.
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US president-elect Donald Trump said the US was spending too much on Nato while the European countries spent too little.
“We want to unwind the US support for Nato,” Trump said.
Van Heerden said Trump might reduce his support for the Middle East, and try to strike a balance between the US and China but would fight China economic dominance.
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