EU leaders vow to ramp up funding to defend their countries, Ukraine

European Union leaders vowed to ramp up funding for Ukraine and their own defense at a summit in Brussels on Thursday as they take steps to rearm in ways they haven’t since the end of the Cold War.

The summit, also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was the first for all 27 EU members since last week’s confrontational White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy — and after Washington’s decision to suspend aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

“Europe faces a clear and present danger to protect itself and defend itself, as we have to put Ukraine in a position to protect itself and to push for a lasting and just peace,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said about her $865 billion “rearm Europe” plan. The plan aims to drastically boost Europe’s defense arsenal against what many here see as a growing Russian threat — and possibly the U.S.’s disengagement from the region.

Von der Leyen spoke alongside Zelenskyy, who was invited for part of the summit.

“We are very thankful that we are not alone, and these are not just words,” Zelenskyy said. “We feel it.”

Beyond boosting Europe’s conventional arsenal, French President Emmanuel Macron has floated extending his country’s nuclear arsenal to other European allies, which he also explained to French voters back home. In a televised address to the nation Wednesday, he called Russia a threat to Europe for years to come, remarks denounced by Moscow.

In Brussels, many EU leaders echoed the urgency of rearming, like Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina, whose own country borders Russia and has already sharply boosted its defense spending.

“We see good proposals [from] von der Leyen, but we see it’s just one step,” Silina said. “We need more proposals going forward. And we see it’s really a good opportunity for Ukraine to get peace — but through strength.”

The EU sees a strong peace deal for Kyiv as serving its own interests as well to ensure Russia doesn’t go beyond Ukraine to attack its own member states. But some European leaders have misgivings, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who has friendly relations with Moscow.

Just as important as pouring more money into defense, analysts say, is investing strategically and pooling resources. Ian Lesser, Brussels bureau office head for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said cooperation was necessary.

“The resources that would be needed to rebuild Europe’s industrial capacity, to build what is, in essence, a European army, even within NATO, is going to require some kind of collective action,” he said.

A key question moving forward, analysts say, is to what extent Europe will procure equipment from the United States as it has in the past — one key way to potentially keep close ties — or invest in its own industrial capacity.

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