European leaders hold ‘watershed’ defence talks after US pulls out on Ukraine

Exceptional measures taken to increase spending but Hungary blocks unanimous endorsement of Ukraine strategy

European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels on Thursday. AFP

The EU's 27 leaders met in Brussels on Thursday for emergency talks on boosting defence spending, as Washington indicates it will no longer provide security guarantees to Ukraine and the continent.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to attend the talks in Brussels in a show of support from European leaders. They have expressed alarm at Washington's brutal withdrawal of support for Ukraine under President Donald Trump.

"This is a dangerous gamble with Ukraine's future," the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said. "I think we should not underestimate our own power when it comes to Europe, the economic power we have and the strength that we have here."

Mr Zelenskyy, who is scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia on Monday, said he was "thankful" that his country was not alone. "These are not words, we feel it," he said.

Standing beside him, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a "watershed moment". "Europe faces a clear and present danger, and therefore Europe has to be able to defend itself," Ms von der Leyen said.

There were calls to fill the gap left by the US, which has paused military aid to Ukraine. "This is a time to show for Europe: are we a global player, or are we just a club of discussions?" Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.

Europe must "spend, spend, spend" on defence, said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. "The most important thing, to be very frank, is to rearm Europe," she said. "I don't think we have a lot of time."

Leaders agreed to back a five-point plan put forward by Ms von der Leyen. The plan, called “Rearm Europe,” could possibly raise €800 billion ($863 billion) in defence investments for the continent, while also benefitting Ukraine.

As part of that package, the Commission will provide €150 billion in loans to member states. "This is an exceptional measure, but it is the right measure for exceptional times," Ms von der Leyen said.

The EU will also ease budgetary rules to allow countries to increase their spending. About €15 billion was pledged by heads of state during Thursday's meeting, European Council President Antonio Costa said, although he did not name them.

"Today, we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge," Mr Costa said.

The EU will closely co-ordinate its plans with non-EU allies, with a debriefing planned on Friday for Iceland, Norway, the UK and Turkey, to be given by Ms von der Leyen, Mr Costa and Ms Kallas.

'Moving towards a truce'

Leaders agreed on a broad sequence of events for Ukraine, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying: "The idea is that we are first moving towards a truce – in the air, at sea and for civilian infrastructure – before discussing security guarantees in the broad sense, with the presence or not of European forces on Ukrainian soil."

The French leader, alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has been pushing for a truce in Ukraine that would be followed by sending a European peacekeeping force.

Mr Macron has also floated the idea of sharing France's nuclear deterrence with the rest of the continent. France is the only EU country with nuclear weapons.

But earlier in the day, some leaders said that discussing nuclear deterrence was premature. "It needs time to decide … it's something new," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said.

Mr Macron had previously announced that a meeting of chiefs of defence staff from a number of European countries will be held next week in Paris to further boost support to Ukraine's military and discuss the possibility of sending peacekeeping troops after a ceasefire deal is reached.

“Who can believe that this Russia of today will stop at Ukraine?” Mr Macron asked in a televised speech on Wednesday. “I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side but we have to be prepared for that not to be the case.”

US-Ukraine relations have turned sour after a disastrous meeting in the White House last Friday between Mr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump, who has since paused military aid to Ukraine.

Senior members of Mr Trump's entourage have held talks with opponents to Mr Zelenskyy in an attempt to pressure him to hold elections, despite the Ukrainian constitution barring elections under martial law, Politico reported on Thursday. A survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published last month showed that Mr Zelenskyy's approval ratings stood at 63 per cent.

But in a signal of the EU's enduring struggle to speak in one voice on security matters, its members also shied away from unanimously endorsing a concrete proposal made by the Ms Kallas, that would have forced each country to commit to contributing to Ukraine's defence needs, based on their gross national income.

This was intended to force EU countries that have contributed little so far to Ukraine's war needs to step up, The National understands. The financial effort by Baltic countries, and certain Western European countries such as the Netherlands, has been higher than others. Estonia has used 2.2 per cent of its GDP for Ukraine in the past three years, according to the Kiel Institute think tank's Ukraine tracker, while Italy has allocated 0.1 per cent.

The proposal, however, was mentioned in the conclusions of Thursday's meeting – a signal that it will continue to be discussed.

"The European Council calls on the Council to advance work swiftly on initiatives, notably that of the High Representative, to co-ordinate increased EU military support to Ukraine," they said.

EU countries that contribute less to Ukraine are often also the countries that do not spend the recommended 2 per cent of GDP on defence and have fiscal problems, an EU diplomat from a country that spends a significant amount on Ukraine said. “There is a link between the three, but we would like to see other countries do more,” said the diplomat.

Countries such as Italy and France are under considerable political pressure at home to reduce their budget spending. France's shortest-serving prime minister Michel Barnier was toppled in December after he tried to force through an unpopular budget bill.

Another obstacle in showing unanimity on Ukraine was Hungary, which supports the US approach of entering into direct talks with Russia.

Hungary was the only country to not endorse the the Ukraine conclusions at Thursday's meeting. Divergences with Hungary were acknowledged by Mr Costa, who played down divisions within the bloc.

"Twenty-six countries believe that the path to peace is by boosting the defence capacity of Ukraine," Mr Costa said. "Hungary has isolated itself from that consensus. It is on its own. An isolated country does not mean division."