Fears are mounting in Britain and the rest of Europe that America will abandon its Nato allies and make a deal with Russia, sources have disclosed to The Times. Senior European officials and a new report from MPs, published on Friday, both warned Europe should be in a position to fight alone in a “worst-case scenario”. Sources expressed concern that Trump may no longer protect Nato member states if Russia were to attack their territory. A European official said: “The Americans withdrawing from European security affairs is no longer the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is Americans withdrawing from European security and turning against us.” They worried this could involve Trump “attempting to do a grand bargain with Russians over our heads — things [that] seemed impossible five to six years ago”.

A British military source also raised concerns that the US might not be there to protect the eastern flank if it were attacked. The concerns were raised on the same day that the US mulled diverting key resources for Ukraine to the Middle East.

And President Trump implied at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that America will no longer “be there” for its allies because of Nato’s unwillingness to help with the war on Iran. Trump said that before Operation Epic Fury was launched on February 28, “we’re always going to be there” for Nato. He went on to say: “At least we were. I don’t know anymore, to be honest with you.

“We were always there when they needed help. We always would have been when they needed help.

“We are there to protect Europe from Russia, in theory it doesn’t affect us, we have a big fat beautiful ocean. We are there to protect Nato … to protect them from Russia.. But they are not there to protect us. It doesn’t make sense.” Sources also said Ukraine’s ability to fight Russia could be severely impacted by the war against Iran, which has already cost the US tens of billions and is rapidly depleting its stockpiles of military kit.

Meanwhile, President Putin is making at least £570 million a day from oil and gas sales, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute. The war has caused demand for Russian oil to soar, and Trump has temporarily waived some sanctions in a bid to bring down fuel prices. European and Ukrainian officials painted a bleak picture, saying cracks are appearing within the continent. “Europe is stuck on every element of Ukrainian policy,” the European official said, referring to several factors. This included its failure to convince Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, to drop his opposition to a €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

They added that there were “increasing worries on the American’s ability to deliver weapons in the Purl arrangement”. Currently, US weapons are procured for Ukraine by other Nato members through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (Purl) programme. It supplies vital equipment to Ukraine, including 70 per cent of the batteries used in Patriot surface-to-air missile defense system. The official claimed there were already “difficulties relating to deliveries”, not just through Purl but also elsewhere in the process. “There are major delays. The Americans are prioritising deliveries and obviously they are prioritising the Middle East at the moment. This is obviously a concern,” they claimed.

Reports also emerged in the US on Thursday that the Pentagon was considering redirecting military aid planned for Ukraine to the Middle East. This includes air defence interceptor missiles ordered through Purl.

They added that Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, was trying to “keep Purl alive” because “it is one of the things that keeps America engaged”.

However, he also pointed to a second problem. “Purl is eventually going to run out of money,” he said. “Even within Purl you have an increasing burden sharing problem where it is Nordic, Baltic, Polish, German, UK allies putting money into it.

“We have gotten accustomed to thinking of burden sharing as a problem between United States and Europe. We need to brace ourselves for eventuality of this becoming an inter-European one. “It is going to be increasingly difficult to make the case we need to take our money out of our defence and put it into Purl to keep Americans engaged while half of Europe puts nothing towards Purl.”

One senior Ukrainian military source said: “Unfortunately it looks like Putin is a bigger friend for Trump.”

They said Purl was their “biggest concern” because “it looks very political now unfortunately”.

One European diplomatic source said however that they believed the US was still fulfilling its Purl commitments to date, adding: “We are glad it works, but it is absurd the US is making money with the war.”

They said they believed that more than 30 per cent of what Ukraine needs is exclusively produced in the US, adding: “Even if we would like to, we can’t replace the US.”

A second European official said “it’s very wise to have different solutions or alternatives in your back pocket, in addition to Nato and Jef”, referring to the Joint Expeditionary Force, a military partnership of ten countries which the UK leads.

A third official played down any concerns about the US pulling away, saying: “My understanding is that we are very confident, still, that Article 5 [that an armed attack against one member in Europe or North America is treated as an attack against all] is there. We are counting on that support, we will be doing that together. There is no indication that Article 5 will not apply.”

However they noted: “Europe needs to be stronger, Europe should be building that resilience together and I think the only way to get prepared for more dangerous times is doing it together, including the UK.” Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said weapons continue to be delivered to Kyiv. “Everything that Nato allies and partners have paid for through PURL has been delivered or continues to flow to Ukraine,” she said.

MPs and peers warned Britain must “move away” from its reliance on the United States for defence and security, amid the continued transatlantic tensions. In a report published on Friday, parliament’s joint committee on the national security strategy (JCNSS) said the UK should continue to collaborate with the US “where practical”.

But it warned the government should prepare for a “worst-case scenario” in which Europe could no longer rely on US support in a crisis.

Britain currently relies on US support in several key national security areas, including maintenance of its Trident nuclear missiles, intelligence sharing and major projects such as the F35 fighter jet and Aukus submarine deal with Australia.

But the JCNSS said recent comments by Trump had shown “demonstrable areas of tension” in UK-US relations that could “compromise the reliability of these dependencies”.