Donald Trump has threatened to halt arms shipments to Ukraine in a bid to pressure European allies into joining a ‘coalition of the willing’ to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, people familiar with the negotiations told the Financial Times (FT).
The strait has effectively been closed by Iran following US and Israeli strikes in late February, disrupting a route through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
The US president last month called on NATO navies to help reopen the waterway, but European allies pushed back, arguing it was not feasible during the ongoing conflict. Several stressed that it was ‘not our war’.
Three officials familiar with the talks said Trump subsequently threatened to halt deliveries to PURL, a NATO arms procurement initiative for Ukraine funded by European countries.
In response – and at the urging of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte – a group of countries including France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued a hastily agreed statement on 19 March expressing their ‘readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz’.
One official familiar with the negotiations said: ‘It was Rutte who insisted on the joint statement because Trump was threatening to walk away from PURL and from support for Ukraine more broadly. The declaration was then quickly drafted, and other countries joined later because there was not enough time to invite everyone to sign immediately.’
According to two officials, Rutte held several calls with Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the two days before the statement was issued.
Another official told the FT that Rutte had explained in calls with France, Germany and the UK that Trump was ‘pretty hysterical’ about the Europeans’ refusal to help secure the strait.
British officials said London and Washington had already discussed military options for securing the strait before 19 March. However, they did not deny that the US had threatened to withdraw support for Ukraine if NATO countries failed to increase their involvement.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: ‘President Trump has made clear his disappointment with NATO and other allies and, as he has emphasised, the United States will remember that.’
Trump has repeatedly criticised European allies for not doing more to support the US campaign against Iran, while portraying the war in Ukraine as primarily Europe’s responsibility.
‘We’re there to protect NATO, to protect them from Russia. But they are not there to protect us. It’s absurd,’ he said during a cabinet meeting last week.
Asked about Trump’s frustration with NATO allies over the Strait of Hormuz, Rutte said: ‘I’m confident that the allies, as always, will do everything they can to support our common interests.’
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that he would host talks this week among 35 signatories on forming a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ‘after the fighting is over’.
US–Israeli operations against Iran have intensified global competition for PAC-3 missiles used by Patriot air defence systems, which Gulf states rely on to counter Iranian attacks. The systems are also a key element of Ukraine’s defence against Russian strikes.
Rubio said on Friday that US military supplies to Ukraine via the PURL mechanism had not been affected by the war in the Middle East. ‘Nothing has been diverted yet,’ he said.
However, he did not rule out the possibility that Washington could in future redirect weapons originally intended for Ukraine in order to replenish US stockpiles depleted by the war against Iran. ‘If we need something for America and it’s American, we’ll keep it for America first,’ he said.
(luc)