Merz To Meet Trump Amid Fears In Europe That Iran War Will Divert Attention From Ukraine

News Merz To Meet Trump Amid Fears In Europe That Iran War Will Divert Attention From Ukraine By Alex Raufoglu March 03, 2026 11:57 CET Merz To Meet Trump Amid Fears In Europe That Iran War Will Divert Attention From Ukraine Share Share Print WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump will meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House on March 3, with transatlantic security and Ukraine high on the agenda. But as Washington intensifies military operations against Iran, European officials fear the war in the Middle East will divert attention from supporting Ukraine as it battles to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year. The concern is not only political – that Washington’s attention may drift. It's also practical: Ukraine’s defense depends heavily on American-made interceptors, cruise missiles, and other precision munitions that the Pentagon is now expending in significant quantities elsewhere. SEE ALSO: US Strategy In Iran: Create An Opening, Let Iranians Decide, Analysts Say In an interview with RFE/RL in Washington on March 2, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz acknowledged the strain. “If we look at the American involvement in the Middle East and how it affects Europe, Poland, and Ukraine -- it involves the supply of military equipment, missiles for Patriot systems, supplies for Ukraine, and the production capacity of American industry,” he said. “It will have an impact.” How large that impact will be remains unclear, he added, because “it depends on the duration of the conflict.” But he warned that “the center of gravity of interest is shifting to the Middle East,” stressing that “Europe must do more.” For Ukraine, that shift could prove decisive. Retired US Army Colonel Richard Williams, a former senior NATO defense official , described Kyiv’s position as increasingly fragile if the conflict in the Middle East widens or drags on. “I’d say the Ukrainian strategic situation… is precarious -- and ...