@andrewramsaygray.bsky.social
European Affairs Editor at Reuters, covering EU & NATO from Brussels. Previously: Lanark, London, Germany, Geneva, Balkans, Iraq, West Africa & Washington. Ex-Politico editor/podcaster.
Spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte today. First story below, more to come.
05.03.2026 12:07 — 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
Ukraine’s push for a fast track into the European Union as part of any peace deal has hit stiff resistance from EU governments, who don't want to open the Pandora’s box of problems they fear a quick accession would unleash.
New from @liliebayer.bsky.social, me and Kyiv bureau chief Daniel Flynn
Latest from Reuters' @kateabnett.bsky.social:
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asked the EU for a "fact-finding mission" to assess damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline in Ukraine, and suggested this could help unblock new EU funding for Kyiv, a letter seen by Reuters showed.
Exclusive: Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China
Great reporting from Reuters' @irishjreuters.bsky.social @phreuters.bsky.social @gavinfinch.bsky.social
Costa also tells Orban: "When leaders reach a
consensus, they are bound by their decision. Any breach of this commitment constitutes a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation."
("Sincere cooperation" is mentioned in the EU's founding treaties.)
In a letter seen by Reuters, Costa says he'll raise the issue of oil supplies with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy in Kyiv tomorrow.
But he also says: "No Member State can be allowed to undermine the credibility of decisions taken collectively by the European Council."
(2/3)
European Council President Antonio Costa has written to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, urging him to honour an EU deal from December to give Ukraine a vital 90 bln euro loan.
Budapest has declared it will block the loan until Russian oil is flowing to Hungary again through the Druzhba pipeline.
(1/3)
Big scoop from @sasilink.bsky.social and @michaelstone.bsky.social:
Germany is considering ordering more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets - a move that would deepen Berlin's reliance on American military technology as its joint next-generation fighter program with France falters.
Just caught up with this brilliant, moving story. Based on amazing detective work that became about far more than solving a cold case.
The detective's name is Zufall (chance or coincidence in German), which seems almost unbelievably perfect.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
"Some lines have been crossed that cannot be uncrossed anymore."
Analysis from the Munich Security Conference, with @irishjreuters.bsky.social & @sasilink.bsky.social
NATO says it has begun a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic - part of efforts to defuse severe tensions in the alliance prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump's desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.
11.02.2026 12:51 — 👍 17 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
We may soon need an emergency break from emergency brakes...
...and those who don't know the difference between the two.
Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend next month's NATO defence ministers' meeting - 2nd time in a row that a Trump Cabinet official skips a NATO ministerial meeting.
www.reuters.com/world/hegset...
NATO's Rutte deploys Dutch bluntness to slap down calls for a European army - an idea revived recently by Spain's foreign minister and the EU's defence commissioner.
"I think Putin will love it."
"Think again."
"Keep on dreaming."
"Hey, good luck."
Very unusual for the head of NATO's military committee to comment like this - a clear response to Trump's remark about NATO troops in Afghanistan, even if it's not explicitly mentioned.
The fact he's done so suggests the strength of feeling in NATO military circles about that remark.
NATO officials and diplomats also expect there will be a greater NATO presence in the Arctic - through a mission, operation and/or exercises etc.
Again, though, details have not been agreed or decided.
ENDS
On Greenland framework agreed by Trump & Rutte, people familiar tell us:
It's "a frame on which to build. Anything being reported on specific details is speculative."
Agreed on US-Denmark talks to update 1951 accord on US military access
Calls for prohibiting Chinese & Russian investments...
1/2
The time for flattering Donald Trump is over, says former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"It's really the future of NATO that is at stake," he told me today.
Rasmussen has a unique perspective on the Greenland crisis as a former Danish PM and ex-NATO secretary general.
Interview:
NATO's existential bind over Greenland in a nutshell, from our analysis last week.
tinyurl.com/5x8ye7z3
NATO is in a bind. Trump's Greenland push threatens its very existence. But NATO's power to influence the standoff is limited.
It is scrambling for more Arctic security measures. But Trump has insisted nothing less than U.S. ownership of Greenland will do.
Analysis by @liliebayer.bsky.social & me.
Recommended reading from @jacobgronholt.bsky.social in Nuuk, focusing on the human side of the Greenland standoff.
15.01.2026 11:12 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
I asked NATO boss Mark Rutte at a @reneweurope.bsky.social event today whether it was acceptable for one member to threaten the use of force to take the territory of another.
He declined to answer, referring to a previous answer about not being able to comment on internal discussions.
Moral of the story:
In Brussels, whatever anyone tells you,
there is never only one game in town.
Just ICYMI last night: European Commission considering a SAFE 2.0…
12.12.2025 06:24 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
New: European Commission is considering a sequel to its multi-billion-euro SAFE loans scheme for defence spending.
At a Politico event tonight, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said some member states were asking for a second SAFE.
EU officials say it's under active consideration.
Analysis ahead of Witkoff-Putin meeting today:
However Trump’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine pans out, Europe fears the prospect of a deal – sooner or later – that will not punish or weaken Russia as its leaders had hoped, placing the continent’s security in greater jeopardy.
Of course, ultimately, this is not a decision that will be made by the EU or other European leaders.
But the language may indicate the direction of a compromise - higher than the 600,000 in the US plan, maybe more like 800,000, as some Europeans have suggested.
Worth looking closely at what European leaders say on Ukrainian army limits.
Von der Leyen today: "There can be no limitations on Ukraine's armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks."
Not quite a flat 'no limts', leaves open for discussion how high a cap might be. 1/2
We've published the full text of a European counter-proposal to the U.S. 28-point Ukraine peace plan, seen by Reuters.
The document, drafted by Europe's E3 powers of Britain, France and Germany, takes the U.S. plan as its basis but goes through point by point with suggested changes & deletions.
New from us:
Europeans have submitted a modified version of the United States' peace plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
Story below, we'll also publish full text.