Rheinmetall CEO says Europe is "at kids' table" in Ukraine talks

European countries have found themselves "at the kids’ table" in negotiations on Ukraine's future due to decades of underinvestment in defence, Armin Papperger, CEO of German defence concern Rheinmetall, has said.
Source: Papperger in an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Papperger said Europe only has itself to blame for being sidelined in the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine initiated by the new US administration led by Donald Trump.
"If you don’t invest, if you are not strong, they handle you like kids," he said.
The consequence of insufficient defence spending, Papperger says, is that Europeans are being seated at a separate table like children while the US and Russia discuss Ukraine's future.
"If parents have dinner, the kids have to sit at another table. The US is negotiating with Russia and no European is at the table – it has become very clear that the Europeans are the kids," the Rheinmetall CEO added.
Papperger expressed doubt that Trump's peace talks would really lead to Russia stopping the shooting.
He said that his company would benefit even if there was a ceasefire, as Europe would continue to invest in armaments as it confronts the threat of Russian aggression.
Background:
- Last week, the Trump administration stepped up efforts to launch negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the full-scale war unleashed by Moscow.
- Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, said that the US does not see Europe at the negotiation table to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.
- After that, an emergency summit of European leaders convened by French President Emmanuel Macron took place in Paris on the evening of 17 February.
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