An apartment building hit by a Russian air strike in Toretsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday. Photo: AP alt=An apartment building hit by a Russian air strike in Toretsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday. Photo: AP>
Led by the US, Western nations contend that, despite their sanctions, Russia is meeting nearly 90 per cent of its semiconductor needs for tanks, missiles and aircraft through dual-use imports from China.
Bagger was visiting Washington ahead of the Nato summit here, scheduled for July 9-11, when the transatlantic alliance’s 32 members are expected to pass a US$107 billion multi-year aid package for Ukraine.
The issue of the war is far from settled in Washington. Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee for the presidential election in November, vowed to withdraw US military aid to Ukraine during his debate on Thursday evening with President Joe Biden.
Last week, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that more than 20 Nato countries will have met the alliance’s target of raising their military budgets to at least 2 per cent of their GDP this year.
Asked how Europe, in particular Germany, was preparing for a potential Trump return to the White House, Bagger said that every European capital was carefully monitoring the US elections and that a “reflection process” was going on “behind closed doors”.
Bagger acknowledged that the EU had a tough time working with Trump, but said that some of those issues were not “as relevant anymore” because Europe had “re-examined” its “own assumptions”.
“Russian gas is one of them, Iran in some ways is another one, I think our 2 per cent is a third one,” he said.
“I think what would remain is certainly, you know, very different opinions on trade issues and a number of economic issues,” he added.
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Publish date : 2024-06-29 09:30:00
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