Shaken by the prospect of U.S. disengagement, European Union leaders vowed to bolster the bloc’s defenses at a crisis summit Thursday, while Washington signaled renewed talks with Kyiv to secure a cease-fire with Moscow.
In a show of unity after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tense White House exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump, European nations approved a plan to “rearm Europe” against the perceived Russian threat.
“We are moving decisively toward a strong and more sovereign Europe of defense,” said Antonio Costa, head of the European Council, adding, “We are putting our money where our mouth is.”
Leaders backed the European Commission’s push to mobilize about 800 billion euros ($860 billion) for defense, pledging to urgently review a proposal for EU-backed loans of up to 150 billion euros to member states.
The defense plan eases fiscal rules to allow states to spend much more – at a time when Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, is embracing radical reforms to fund the country’s rearmament.
French President Emmanuel Macron has likewise called for a defense spending surge and suggested extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners.
European governments are under pressure to step up defense as Trump questions whether the United States – the guarantor of Europe’s security since World War II – should continue its central role in NATO.
The U.S. leader once again called that commitment into question Thursday, complaining that allies “should be paying more.”
‘Not alone’
Trump’s pivot away from the United States’ trans-Atlantic partners comes as he seeks a rapprochement with Russia to end the Ukraine war – raising fears Kyiv could be forced into an unfavorable deal.
EU leaders welcomed Zelenskyy in Brussels in a show of support, a week after his clash with Trump led to the United States cutting off military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Declaring that Ukraine had to be in the “strongest possible position” to secure a “just and lasting peace,” a leaders’ statement repeated calls for “robust and credible security guarantees” to deter future Russian aggression.
The text – backed by 26 of 27 states, given the expected opposition of Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ardent Trump supporter – stressed that “there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine.”
“We are very thankful that we are not alone,” Zelenskyy said.
The meeting brought no major new aid announcements, with several EU states arguing that Europe currently has enough money committed to meet Kyiv’s needs, despite the U.S. freeze on aid.
Norway, a non-EU member, announced, however, that it will more than double its aid for 2025 to bring the total to $7.8 billion.
Saudi talks
After last week’s diplomatic incident, Zelenskyy has scrambled to mend fences with Trump, and the U.S. envoy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict announced Thursday that new negotiations were planned.
Declaring himself pleased by Zelenskyy’s “apology,” U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he intended to travel to Saudi Arabia to speak to Ukrainian negotiators about an “initial cease-fire” with Russia and a “framework” for a longer agreement.
In Kyiv, a senior official said Ukrainian and U.S. delegations were expected to meet Tuesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Witkoff said the meeting would take place in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian and American negotiators had “resumed work.”
“We hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting,” he said.
In his bid to salvage cooperation with Washington, Zelenskyy declared himself ready to work toward a peace deal under Trump’s “strong leadership” and to finalize an accord on U.S. access to Ukrainian mineral resources.
Trump’s outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the three-year war – sidelining both Kyiv and its European partners – has thrown Europe into crisis mode.
It has also helped draw Britain closer to the EU, five years after leaving the bloc.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is working with Macron to rebuild bridges between Trump and Zelenskyy, and together they have pitched a one-month truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure.”
They have called for a “coalition of the willing” to help secure a cease-fire, with a British official saying Thursday that talks with about 20 countries were underway.
Several European states have said they would be willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as a “security guarantee.”
Russia reiterated, however, that it would not accept European forces in Ukraine nor a merely temporary cease-fire, saying a “final settlement” was needed.
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