Summary

European officials are preparing a multibillion-dollar defense package to bolster regional security and support Ukraine, announced by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Munich Security Conference.

The package, potentially valued up to 700 billion euros, will fund military training, arms deliveries, and security guarantees amid concerns over Russian aggression and diminishing U.S. contributions to NATO.

The move follows calls for Europe to boost its own defense spending while U.S.-Russian talks, which exclude Ukraine and Europe, on ending the Ukraine conflict continue.

    • Spzi
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      142 months ago

      Them not being involved in the peace talks underlines again how indispensable nuclear weapons are, sadly.

      The DSA playing hopscotch with whose ally they are underlines how worthless a shared nuclear umbrella can be.

      So a grim lesson for Ukraine, Europe, Taiwan and pretty much any country with any border tensions, or anything another aspiring imperialist might find desireable: Get nukes, own them yourselfes, or risk being thrown aside or being steamrolled. Trump undoing decades of existential anti-proliferation work in mere days.

    • FlashMobOfOne
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      82 months ago

      I keep hoping the Palestinians will get their hands on one for the same reason.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 months ago

        The limited military capabilities of Palestinians has restrained Israel’s actions.

        How should Palestinians use that nuke?

        • FlashMobOfOne
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          72 months ago

          The limited military capabilities of Palestinians has restrained Israel’s actions.

          If you say so.

          How should Palestinians use that nuke?

          They shouldn’t use it, per se.

          Just make threats with it, like most countries do. Having a nuke is a deterrent.

            • @[email protected]
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              12 months ago

              I mean, if you’re assuming the worst, a nuclear strike could pretty much wipe israel almost entirely off the map. With a more conservative and realistic positioning, you know, one singular, small nuke, probably sourced from somewhere else, then you’d still be looking at probably 20,000 people dead or injured if it were to hit the downtown of any city. You know, ten times the amount of october 7th. That would be a huge international incident, especially seeing as how the nuke would have to be provided by some other foreign government, which means that there could be a chance of a probably unpreventable follow-up attack at almost any time. It would be a pretty big deal, even if they were credibly threatened. I mean, that’s part of why Iran isn’t allowed to have a nuclear program.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      One won’t be enough. If they use it, Russia will at least hit the whole frontline with tactical nukes, maybe wipe out a city or two. That means Ukraine can’t use it, making it as valuable as a paperweight. For credible nuclear deterrence a country needs a few dozen nuclear weapons and more than one delivery method.

        • @[email protected]
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          32 months ago

          There are air defenses that could potentially shoot down a missile before it hits its target. So one means there’s merely a probability of destroying Moscow. A psychopath like Putin may be willing to take that risk, and even if Moscow got nuked, Russia would still exist (though obviously it would be significantly diminished), and he’d have justification for using nukes on Ukraine.

          For MAD to apply you need enough nukes to be an existential threat to another country when you’re dealing with psychopaths that would be fine with potentially millions of people dying if it means they come out on top in a war.