European Union leaders are holding emergency talks on Thursday on ways to quickly increase their military budgets after the Trump administration signaled that Europe must take care of its own security and also suspended assistance to Ukraine.
In just over a month, President Donald Trump has overturned old certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner, as he embraces Russia and withdraws American support for Ukraine.
On Monday, Trump ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia, bringing fresh urgency to the EU summit in Brussels.
Here’s the latest:
Baltic nations welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for talks about using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda praised a “very interesting idea” at his arrival at an emergency EU summit on defense and Ukraine in Brussels. “We have high expectations because nuclear umbrella would serve as really very serious deterrence towards Russia,” Nausėda said.
Latvia Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said she sees the French proposal “as an opportunity to discuss,” stressing that more time is needed for talks with European allies and at home.
Macron said he has decided to open a “strategic debate” on the protection of European allies by France’s nuclear deterrent. Macron said the use of France’s nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president.
The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed as “extremely confrontational” a speech by Emmanuel Macron, in which the French president called Moscow a “threat” to Europe.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Macron also said that he’s ready to start discussions on nuclear deterrence with European allies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a regular call with journalists said the speech was “extremely confrontational” and said that it was clear that France wasn’t thinking about peace.
“One can conclude that France thinks more about war, about continuing the war,” Peskov added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed Peskov, saying during a news conference in Moscow that Macron’s speech and his comments on discussing nuclear deterrence with European allies were a “threat” against Russia.
Zelenskyy arrived at the emergency EU summit on Thursday and thanked European Union leaders for their unwavering support for Ukraine.
“During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us. … Big appreciation. We are very thankful that we are not alone. And these are not just words — we feel it,” Zelenskyy said.
He said EU support for Ukraine “signals to increase our production, and signals to a new program to increase European security.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a plan to loosen budget rules so countries that are willing can spend much more on defense. Her proposal is underpinned by 150 billion euros ($162 billion) worth of loans to buy priority military equipment.
Most of the increased defense spending would have to come from national budgets at a time when many countries are already overburdened with debt.
France is struggling to reduce an excessive annual budget deficit of 5% of GDP. Five other countries using the euro currency have debt levels over 100% of GDP: Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Europe’s largest economy, Germany, has more room to borrow, with a debt level of 62% of GDP.
France is providing military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced it was freezing the sharing of information with Kyiv.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, “Our intelligence is sovereign. We have intelligence that we allow Ukraine to benefit from.”
He added that following the U.S. decision to suspend all military aid to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to “accelerate the various French aid packages” to make up for the lack of American assistance.
In Ukraine, a Russian ballistic missile killed four people staying at a hotel in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown during the night.
Zelenskyy said a humanitarian organization’s volunteers had moved into the hotel in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, just before the strike, including Ukrainian, American and British nationals. He didn’t say whether those people were among the 31 injured.
Russia fired 112 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as two ballistic Iskander missiles, at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.
Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, conferred in Brussels with summit chairman Antonio Costa over breakfast on how to fortify Europe’s defenses on a short deadline. Merz only days ago pushed plans to loosen the nation’s rules on running up debt to allow for higher defense spending.
At the same time, the 27-nation bloc was waking up to the news that French President Emmanuel Macron would confer with EU leaders about the possibility of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.
The bloc will “take decisive steps forward,” Macron told the French nation Wednesday evening. “Member states will be able to increase their military spending” and “massive joint funding will be provided to buy and produce some of the most innovative munitions, tanks, weapons and equipment in Europe,” he said.
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