US Senator James David Vance criticized Europe’s defensive posture, saying the continent’s countries were too dependent on Washington for security. The EU’s trillions of dollars of underinvestment in the defense industry has become a burden on ordinary Americans, he writes RIA News Referring to an article written by a politician in the Financial Times.
“The United States has provided security to Europe for too long. Vance wrote that European countries have made major cuts to their defense budgets since the end of the Cold War.
The senator referred to estimates that Europe will spend an additional 8.6 trillion. for defense within 30 years if spending in this area is kept at Cold War levels.
He noted that the US defense budget is approaching one trillion a year and that the money Europe has accumulated at the expense of Washington can be considered a “tax on the American people”.
Vance emphasized that US generosity in Ukraine has ended and that Americans want to see allies in Europe, not dependent states. The senator called on Europe to revive its military potential and think about how to live with Russia after the end of the conflict in Ukraine. He believes Europe needs to get back on its feet defensively.
“A fragmented defense industry in Europe and America produces limited quantities of the most advanced weapons in the world but struggles to produce heavy weapons at the speed and scale needed to win a major conflict. “Russia produces twice as many artillery shells each month as Europe and the United States combined,” Vance writes.
The article notes that at current production rates, it would take years for the West to replenish its military stockpiles “even if it stopped supplying critical defense materials” to other states today.
Previously The US Senate stated that Ukraine would have to give up large territories in the name of peace.