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The chief of Germany’s biggest defense contractor has been left at the children’s table in discussions over Ukraine’s future as the defence chief has been lacking for decades.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said Europe must be criticised for being sidelined by US President Donald Trump’s negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“If you don’t invest, if you’re not strong, they’re treating you like a child,” he told the Financial Times. “For the past 30 years, it has been very convenient for Europeans, OK, spending 1% (of GDP on defense). That’s fine.”
The outcome of that stance was that while Europeans were engaged in discussions about the future of Ukraine, Europeans were like children whose children were entrusted to another table.
“When parents have dinner, the kids have to sit at another table,” he said. “The US is negotiating with Russia, and there are no Europeans at the table. It’s become very clear that Europeans are children,” he added to a bystander at the Munich Security Council.
According to official data, between 2021 and 2024, total defence spending in the EU countries rose by more than 30%, up to an estimated 326 billion euros, about 1.9% of the BLOC’s GDP.
Trump is putting great pressure on NATO members to increase their defensive spending to 5% of GDP.
Papperger said when European leaders were caught up in Trump’s decision to call on Vladimir Putin and launch “immediate” negotiations to end the war in Ukraine without consulting Europe or Kiev. I did.
As European leaders worked on ways to ensure the continent’s security after the US threatened to significantly reduce support, outspoken defense executives could even make a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. said demand for weapons in the region remains strong.
“There’s nothing in the Depot for the Europeans and the Ukrainians,” he said.
Rheinmetall’s stock price, almost four times since the Russian Ukraine’s full-scale invasion, initially fell after Trump’s peace negotiation plans were announced last week.
However, European defence stocks, including Rheinmetall, have since been linked to an increasing US withdrawal from decades-long role in investors as security guarantees for the continent, and governments in the region have been forced to spend military expenditures. We’ve gathered because we bet that we’ll have to increase the number significantly.
Last year, Papperger, considered the target of a failed assassination plot by Russia, suspected that Trump’s peace negotiations would in fact lead Russia to “stop the fire.”
He said that his company would benefit even if there was a ceasefire as Europe faced the threat of Russian invasion.
“Even if the war stops (in Ukraine), if we think we have a very peaceful future, then I think it’s wrong,” he said.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, spent about 2% of its GDP on defense last year. NATO Executive Director Mark Latte said the alliance’s target must rise to “over 3%.”
Following Sunday’s national election, he hopes Germany’s next government will rapidly ease strict debt rules to allow for more defence spending, Papperger said. I did.
“I personally believe it will happen and it will happen soon,” he said.
Since the Russian Ukraine’s full-scale invasion in 2022, shares in European defense groups have skyrocketed, with US Vice President JD Vance giving rise to even more uncertainty about its commitment to ensure the security of Washington’s continent over the weekend. Afterwards, we received more support on Monday.
Rheinmetall is one of the biggest beneficiaries of growing global unrest. Papperger told FT it expects annual revenue to be 400 billion euros worth of EUR within the next five years. This is a sharp rise from the 5.7 billion euros reported in 2021 before the invasion of Ukraine.
