Just as Europe frets over fresh Trump tariffs, a US troop drawdown announced for Germany and the message it sends to a hostile Russia, how about not one but two summits in former Soviet state Armenia. Before a first-ever gathering of EU leaders in Yerevan on Tuesday comes the European Political Community: a talk shop with regional players which also include Ukraine and NATO heavyweights like the UK, Norway and an outside guest who shares superpower proximity problems.

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, Norway has become the European Union’s leading supplier of gas. This position could be further strengthened given the ongoing war in the Middle East.

This episode discusses the future of transatlantic relations and the evolution of security policy on both sides of the Atlantic. It examines France’s strategic stance and the implications of potential leadership change. It also looks at the dynamics of U.S. domestic politics – the role of political parties and civil society in curbing Donald Trump’s power, and the significance of the midterm elections. It considers what these processes mean for Europe, especially in the context of Article 5. Joining Marta Prochwicz-Jazowska, Deputy Head of the ECFR Warsaw office, in the discussion will be Thomas Gomart, director of the French Institute of International Relations, and Amanda Sloat, professor at the School of Politics, Economics, and Global Affairs at IE University.

Dimitri Minic, Scientific Director of the Observatory on Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia and a Research Fellow at Ifri’s Russia/Eurasia Center, argues in an interview with Le Monde that “Ukraine should not be buried too quickly,” even if the current balance of power favors Russia.

Multiple European countries are publicly backing talks on a homegrown nuclear deterrent to complement American atomic weapons following an erosion of trust in a Donald Trump-led U.S.