EU leaders support Zelenskiy and promise a defense boost following the US funding halt

European leaders declared Thursday that they would support Ukraine and increase defense spending in a world where Donald Trump’s reversal of U.S. policy has upended everything.

“Europe needs to take up this weapons race issue. Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, stated as he came for the meeting in Brussels that “it must win it.”

“Europe as a whole is truly capable of winning any military, financial, economic confrontation with Russia – we are simply stronger,” stated Tusk.

The suggestions made by the European Commission this week to grant them budgetary freedom on defense spending and to collectively borrow up to 150 billion euros ($160 billion) to lend to EU states for military expenditures were welcomed by a number of EU leaders.

Antonio Costa, the meeting’s chairman, and Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, both grinned broadly as they greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. This was a stark contrast to the confrontation between Trump and Zelenskiy in the Oval Office last week. “We are here to defend Ukraine,” Costa said.

However, the EU’s reliance on U.S. protection for decades, as well as differences in funding and the potential use of France’s nuclear deterrence for Europe, demonstrated how challenging it would be to fill the gap left by Washington’s decision to stop providing military help to Ukraine.

NATO reports that Washington gave Ukraine almost 40% of its military assistance last year, some of which Europe found difficult to replace. Some leaders continued to hope that Washington could be wooed back into the fold, at least in public.

As Ukraine also depends on U.S. help for its military, Germany’s departing Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated, “We must ensure, with cool and wise heads, that U.S. support is also guaranteed in the coming months and years.”

A Trump supporter, Viktor Orban, the populist leader of Hungary, may veto a unified declaration supporting Kyiv, further complicating matters for the EU. However, he has stated that he would support measures to enhance European defense expenditure.

ELECTRONIC DETERRENCE?

Fearing that Russia, emboldened by its conflict in Ukraine, may attack an EU nation next and that Europe cannot rely on the U.S. to support it, the Brussels meeting is taking place against a backdrop of momentous defense policy decisions.

It is my hope that the United States will support us. In an address to the French people on the eve of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron stated, “But we have to be ready if that is not the case.”

In comments that garnered harsh criticism from Moscow, he emphasized that Russia has turned into a threat to all of Europe.

NUCLEAR UMBRELLA

Macron stated that France was willing to talk about providing its European allies with the same level of protection provided by its nuclear arsenal, demonstrating the seriousness of the situation.

Reactions to this were not quite uniform. Some, such Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania, stated that a “nuclear umbrella would serve as really very serious deterrence toward Russia.” Germany and Poland emphasized the need of keeping the United States participating, although Poland indicated the concept was worth discussing.

According to Trump, Europe needs to be more accountable for its security, and the United States would not defend a NATO ally that did not invest enough in defense.

For Europeans who view Russia as the greatest threat, his decision to abandon the United States’ steadfast backing for Ukraine in favor of a more accommodative posture toward Moscow has caused great concern.

Concern was demonstrated on Tuesday when the parties seeking to form Germany’s next government decided to remove constitutional restrictions on borrowing for defense expenditures.