US election looms over NATO discussions to Trump-proof Ukraine aid

Brussels CNN —

The imminent US presidential election hung over a meeting of NATO defense chiefs this week, as NATO allies braced for US support for Ukraine to shrink over the next year if Donald Trump wins even as Iran, North Korea and China step up their military aid to Russia.

In a closed-door meeting with his counterparts on Thursday at NATO, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke about the upcoming election in response to questions about it from allies and how it might impact Ukraine aid, saying he can’t predict the future but that there is still bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

NATO officials say they are preparing for the US to take on a lesser role.

“We can’t expect that the US will continue to take on an outsized burden” in supporting Ukraine, a senior NATO official said on Thursday, “which is why the Secretary General wants to see NATO leading on security assistance, rather than one ally taking that on.”

“Europe needs to step up even more,” the official added.

A potential Trump victory has thrown the future of US aid to Ukraine into doubt. The former president declined last month to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war, and has described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “salesman” who “should never have let that war start.”

The timing, to some officials, could not be worse.

“I’m very worried,” the NATO official said. “Optimistic is not the word I would use to describe the situation [in Ukraine] right now.”

Russia has continued to make small, tactical gains inside Ukraine, is outfiring the Ukrainians three to one on the battlefield, and maintains a “significant” advantage in personnel and munitions heading into the brutal winter