Trump allies give Europe’s leaders reality check on Ukraine

Summary
At a meeting in Davos, NATO allies faced pushback on the idea of extending membership of the alliance to embattled Ukraine.DAVOS, Switzerland—Allies of President Trump beamed into the World Economic Forum to chide European leaders for their handling of the war in Ukraine, with one top administration official warning that efforts to fold the country into NATO during peace talks with Russia would run into an American “buzz saw."
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte, seated on a white dais flanked by European leaders in a hotel ballroom, kicked off a breakfast in support of Ukraine on the sidelines of the elite gathering Thursday. He vowed that the country would eventually join the military alliance and argued that negotiations should only begin after Ukraine was in a strong enough position.
“If we get a bad [peace] deal, that would only mean that we will see the president of Russia high-fiving with the leaders across North Korea, Iran and China," he said, referring to nations aligned with Moscow. Making sure Russia would never invade Ukraine must be a key goal, he argued, saying: “Obviously full NATO membership is then the easiest outcome."
Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions, then appeared on large projector screens around a room filled with Ukrainian officials and troops. He said Americans wouldn’t foot the bill for an expanded bloc while some member states don’t meet defense-spending commitments of 2% of GDP.
“I think you’re going to run into a big buzz saw in America if we have the NATO Secretary-General talking about adding Ukraine to NATO," Grenell said. “The American people are the ones that are paying for the defense. You cannot ask the American people to expand the umbrella of NATO when the current members aren’t paying their fair share—and that includes the Dutch, who need to step up." Rutte is a former prime minister of the Netherlands.
The competing comments illustrated the new reality America’s NATO allies face with Trump back in power, and previewed a diplomatic battle about how best to launch negotiations to end the nearly three-year war. The president has said he wants to bring peace to global conflicts but has pitched a more nationalist foreign policy for the U.S.
“I see a lot of finger-pointing between partners," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at the breakfast, “and that’s not helpful."
Most European members, particularly in the continent’s east, don’t want talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin until he shows what they consider to be a genuine desire to end the conflict. The Trump administration believes direct discussions are the only way to put an end to the conflict.
“We find it pretty shocking that there are so many foreign ministers in Europe, so many American politicians at the time, who just didn’t try to stop the war," Grenell said, speaking from Los Angeles. “Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have not spoken in more than three and a half years. Now we think that’s outrageous. The American people think that’s outrageous."
Hundreds of pro-Kyiv attendees at the event applauded during remarks about continuous support for Ukraine and remained silent during any criticism—such as Grenell’s—directed at the current trans-Atlantic approach to the conflict.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) also joined via videoconference. “I believe in America first, but not America alone. So we truly do need our partners to step up," Ernst said. “We have a new era of leadership in the United States of America," she later added.
“The president is right to seek to engage Russia, to seek to engage China on these issues," Lawler said. “There needs to be, obviously, concrete steps taken."
European leaders largely echoed Rutte, with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is close to Trump, saying he wants to make Putin “beg" for negotiations.
“I think we have to be realistic with the ambitions of Russia," said Andrej Plenković, the prime minister of Croatia. “We need to find an intelligent way to bring everybody to the table…and the only thing is that we have to be aware that it cannot be done in a swift manner."
Jens Stoltenberg, who last year finished his 10-year stint as NATO’s chief, warned that “the quickest way to end the war is to lose the war. But that will not bring peace, that will bring occupation. So the challenge and the task is to end the war in a way where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation."
Ukraine’s military is struggling to hold the line against Russia, which boasts a larger and better resourced military. On Wednesday, Trump said on social media that he would impose tariffs and sanctions on Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to peace talks. While saying he didn’t want to hurt Russia, he sent a clear message: “We can do it the easy way—or the hard way."
Joshua Jamerson contributed to this article.
Write to Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com