Dec. 6, 2025, 4:45 AM ESTBy Alexander SmithLONDON — Europe faces “crunch time” on the war in Ukraine, a former European president told NBC News, as the continent battles internal division, Russian threats and open hostility from the United States. Leaders on the continent are feeling “genuine fear and distrust regarding the United States,” Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who led Estonia for a decade until 2016, told NBC News in an interview Thursday. But he also warned that Europe’s internal division “ultimately shows the weakness” of the bloc, and he feared what might happen “unless we start getting our act together.”His comments came hours before European powers held urgent negotiations Friday on how to keep Ukraine’s war effort alive and before President Donald Trump published his National Security Strategy that spelled out in black and white Washington’s dissatisfaction toward many of its partners across the pond.Trump had already left Europe out of this week’s negotiations between his envoy Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Finding itself sidelined, the European Union is trying to formulate its own proposal: using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Even that, however, is facing opposition from Belgium, fearing Russian retaliation.Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Tuesday.Kristina Kormilitsyna / Pool / AFP – Getty ImagesPutin on Thursday reiterated his goal to take eastern Ukraine “by force” unless his unwavering demands are met. He spoke after his predecessor, the hawkish Dmitry Medvedev, said using Russian money to aid Ukraine would be tantamount to a “casus belli” — or an act justifying war — a common Kremlin refrain of his during the 45-month conflict.“It’s crunch time, I think, for Ukraine and for Europe,” said Ilves, who served two stints as foreign minister before taking Estonia’s top job.For Europe, this is about more than just Ukraine; they worry any peace that favors Putin will embolden him to attack and meddle elsewhere on the continent, which has seen an uptick in drone incursions and cyberattacks over the past year. His war machine is making slow progress on the battlefield but suffering heavy casualties. Kyiv, meanwhile, is running low on money and resources, while suffering a manpower shortage and facing allegations of governmental corruption.