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Pro-Ukraine demonstrators outside the US Capitol as President of Ukraine Volodomyr Zelenskyy addresses a joint meeting of Congress on December 21, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fundamentally altered the geopolitical and security environment in the transatlantic region in a way not seen since World War II. The invasion also served as a reminder of why Europe is important to America’s national interests.

In a recent Hudson policy brief [[link removed]], Senior Fellows Luke Coffey [[link removed]] and Peter Rough [[link removed]] listed the top five issues in Europe that the 118th Congress needs to know. Below are some highlights.

Read the Top Five Issues for Transatlantic Relations [[link removed]]

Key Insights

1. Ukraine’s Victory Is the Top Priority

The economic and military assistance for Ukraine that the US Congress has authorized since February 2022 has been the deciding factor in Ukraine’s national defense. Considering the blow Ukraine has delivered to Russia’s conventional military, America’s second-largest adversary, this assistance has been a good value for the American taxpayer. Ukrainians are not asking for, nor do they want, US troops to help them fight Russia. All they ask for is the equipment, weapons, munitions, and financial resources required to give them a fighting chance. It is in America’s interest that Ukraine wins the war, and that Russia is decisively defeated. The US Congress should continue to approve economic and military aid to assist Ukraine’s national defense.

2. NATO Summit in Lithuania

This summit will come at a crucial time for the transatlantic alliance. It will be NATO’s first summit since the alliance published its Strategic Concept last year and the second summit since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hopefully, it will also be an enlargement summit with Sweden and Finland officially joining NATO. The summit should prioritize continuing support for Ukraine, maintaining the alliance’s defensive posture in eastern Europe, and ensuring that members increase defense spending in line with pledges made in 2022. The US Congress should help lay the groundwork now for a productive and successful summit later this year.

3. Three Seas Initiative (3SI) Summit in Romania

Poland launched the Three Seas Initiative in 2016 to facilitate the development of energy and infrastructure ties among 12 nations in eastern, central, and southern Europe. The initiative aims to strengthen trade, infrastructure, energy, and political cooperation among countries bordering the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas. As a vestige of the Cold War, most infrastructure in the region runs east to west, stymying greater regional interconnectedness. Developing north-south interconnections and pipelines would spur economic growth, prosperity, and security. Not only can the 3SI improve Europe’s long-term energy security, but the initiative can also play a role in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction by better connecting it to the rest of Europe. A more integrated eastern and southern European economy holds better prospects for US exporters and investors.

Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.

Read the Top Five Issues for Transatlantic Relations [[link removed]] Go Deeper

NATO Needs a New Strategy for the Baltic Sea [[link removed]]

With Sweden and Finland in NATO, the defense of the Baltic states and security in the wider Baltic Sea region will be greatly improved. However, as Senior Fellow Luke Coffey [[link removed]] explains in a policy memo [[link removed]], NATO’s contingency plans need to evolve as the security situation changes.

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Aid Restrictions Keep Ukrainian Victory Just out of Reach [[link removed]]

Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs [[link removed]] appears on Bloomberg Radio’s Sound On [[link removed]] to discuss why the US needs to take the lead on giving tanks and long-range weapons to Ukraine.

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Task Force KleptoCapture: A Conversation with Director Andrew Adams [[link removed]]

The REPO (Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs) Task Force is a multilateral initiative targeting Russian sanctions evasion to hold the facilitators of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine accountable. This week Hudson Research Fellow Nate Sibley [[link removed]] spoke [[link removed]] with Andrew Adams—the director of the REPO’s US component, Task Force KleptoCapture—about these efforts.

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