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The European nations were left behind in the talks about the future of Ukraine at the children’s table because the defense director of the German defense company was invested for decades.
Armin Papperger, Managing Director of Rheinmetall, said that Europe was responsible for deducting from the negotiations of US President Donald Trump to end war in Ukraine.
“If you don’t invest if you are not strong, treat them like children,” he told the Financial Times. “It has been very convenient for Europeans in the past 30 years to say 1 percent (GDP for defense), it’s okay.”
The consequence of this attitude was, Papperger said that the Europeans were like children at a separate table, while the United States and Russia were discussing the future of Ukraine.
“When parents eat dinner, the children have to sit at a different table,” he said. “The United States negotiates with Russia and no European is at the table – it has become very clear that the Europeans are the children,” he added on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Between 2021 and 2024, the total expenditure of the EU countries rose by more than 30 percent to an estimated EUR 326 billion, about 1.9 percent of the BIP of the Bloc.
Trump has put a lot of pressure on NATO members to increase their defense spending up to 5 percent of GDP.
Papperger spoke when the European leaders persecuted themselves Trump’s decision to name Vladimir Putin “Immediate” negotiations on a contract to terminate the war in Ukraine without advice from Europe or Kyiv.
As a European guide, it has dealt with how the security of the continent is guaranteed after the threat of the US threats to reduce its support drastically pronounced defense manager said that the demand for weapons in the region would remain strong even in the event of an armistice between Ukraine and Russia.
“The Europeans and the Ukrainians have nothing in their custody accounts,” he said, referring to low weapons on the continent.
Rheinmetall’s share price, which has almost quadrupled, since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in the full invasion of Ukraine, according to Trump’s plan, declined after peace talks last week.
However, the European defense shares, including Rheinmetall, have come together since then, since investors bet on the fact that European governments would have to massively increase military expenditure in order to the growing fears of a US withdrawal from their decades of European security to fear.
Papperger, from which it is assumed Assassination attempt After Russia last year, doubts said that Trump’s peace talks would actually lead to “shooting”.
He said his company would benefit from it, even if there was an armistice because Europe would continue to invest in weapons, as this was confronted with the risk of Russian aggression.
“Even if the war (in Ukraine) ends – if we believe that we have a very peaceful future, I think that is wrong,” he said.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, had around 2 percent of GDP for defense last year. Mark Rutte, General Secretary of NATO, said the goal of the Allianz must “increase a lot more than 3 percent”.
Papperger said that after nationwide elections on Sunday, he expected the next government in Germany to quickly relax strict debt rules in order to enable more defense spending, although the Wahlreiter Friedrich Merz is officially obliged to keep them in place.
“I personally believe that this will happen and it will happen immediately,” he said.
The shares of the European defense groups have increased since the full invasion of Russia in 2022 and have received another one Boost On Monday, after the US Vice President JD Vance had ensured the security of the continent over the weekend about the commitment in Washington.
Rheinmetall was one of the greatest beneficiaries of rising global uncertainty. Papperger announced the FT that he had expected annual sales worth EUR 30 billion to 40 billion euros within the next five years – a strong increase compared to the € 5.7 billion registered in 2021 before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
