US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby has told the US’s European allies to prepare for a “protracted” war in Ukraine and to continue providing US-made weapons to Ukrainian forces.
Colby made the remarks in a virtual address to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of dozens of nations the Biden administration formed in 2022 to coordinate the flow of weapons into the Ukraine proxy war. The address came after President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow and Kyiv in an apparent effort to restart peace talks.
“As President Trump has stated, our goal is a lasting peace. We are supporting every effort in that direction. From the standpoint of the Department of War, however, we cannot predict when this tragic war will end,” Colby said.
“As you all well know, Russia is reconstituting its forces and defense-industrial capacity. We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine’s requirements to persist in the months and years ahead. And we must also be prepared for other plausible contingencies as well,” he added.
Colby said the situation “makes it all the more important for Europe to sustain support for Ukraine while also accelerating its own rearmament and reindustrialization.”
After President Trump took office last year, the US has put pressure on its European and NATO allies to increase military spending and also share more of the burden when it comes to spending on the war in Ukraine. Under a mechanism known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL Initiative, NATO allies have been purchasing US weapons for the purpose of sending them into Ukraine.
“First, Europe must continue — and where necessary increase — support for Ukraine’s immediate battlefield requirements through PURL. The continued flow of munitions and critical capabilities is effective; it remains essential to enabling Ukrainian forces to hold the front line and deny further Russian advances,” Colby said.
“Second, Europe must plan now for sustained procurement that supports both Ukraine’s long-term force reconstitution and Europe’s own defense requirements,” he added.
Before joining the Trump administration, Colby expressed skepticism of the US pouring so much money and resources into the war in Ukraine, as he has long argued that the US should be putting more focus on Taiwan and preparations for a potential war with China.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson in November 2024, Colby acknowledged the war brought a risk of nuclear escalation and said it would be “obviously crazy” to allow US weapons to be used “overtly” in attacks on Moscow. While US missiles haven’t been used in strikes on the Russian capital, the Trump administration has been backing Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks, which regularly target Moscow and are supported by US intelligence, raising the risk of escalation between Russia and NATO.
