Europe awakens to cold shower from U.S. — military expert Zgurets

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"Currently, there is a certain awakening of Europe under the cold shower from the U.S. I think this shake-up will benefit us because it will allow for a more efficient acceleration of the deployment of European defense, which is indeed happening, but not as quickly as we would like," emphasized Zgurets.

According to the Defense Express CEO, individual European countries are providing assistance both in terms of weapon stockpiles and new developments. Germany remains the leader in supplying military aid.

"This trend continues in addition to stable assistance from other NATO countries, plus the use of funds from frozen Russian assets. All of this allows us to talk about a fairly stable situation with weapon supplies for a certain period," noted Zgurets.

The director of the information and consulting company Defense Express also added that Germany will supply Ukraine with 6,000 drones equipped with artificial intelligence.

"These drones resemble the Russian Lancets, with a range of up to 100 kilometers and a warhead of up to 5 kilograms of explosive material. They are resistant to the enemy's electronic warfare tools and can use elements for guidance in the final phase of flight. 6,000 drones is a sufficient number to strengthen the Ukrainian Armed Forces," explained Zgurets.

• On February 7, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that defense spending by NATO member countries in Europe and Canada increased by 20% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
• U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth assured that the U.S. will not abandon its allies in Europe, but they cannot be a constant guarantor of NATO funding, and the "dividends of peace" must come to an end.