BRUSSELS: European Union leaders on Thursday committed to working together to bolster the continent\u2019s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security after US President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated warnings that he would cut them adrift to face the threat of Russia alone.
\nWith the growing conviction that they will now have to fend for themselves, countries that have faltered on defense spending for decades held emergency talks in Brussels to explore new ways to beef up their security and ensure future protection for Ukraine.
\n\u201cToday history is being written,\u201d European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after the summit ended.
\nShe said the 27 EU leaders are \u201cdetermined to ensure Europe\u2019s security and to act with the scale, the speed and the resolve that this situation demands. We are determined to invest more, to invest better and to invest faster together.\u201d
\nThe pledge underscored a sea change in geopolitics spurred on by Trump, who has undermined 80 years of cooperation based on the understanding that the US would help protect European nations following World War II.
\nThe leaders signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so that willing EU countries can increase their military spending. They also urged the European Commission to seek new ways \u201cto facilitate significant defense spending\u201d in all member states, a statement said.
\nThe EU\u2019s executive branch estimates that around 650 billion euros ($702 billion) could be freed up that way.
\nThe leaders also took note of a commission offer of loans worth 150 billion euros ($162 billion) to buy new military equipment and invited EU headquarters staff \u201cto examine this proposal as a matter of urgency.\u201d
\nHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, a staunch supporter of Trump and considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s closest ally in Europe, refused to endorse part of the summit statement in favor of Ukraine.
\nBut the 26 other EU leaders approved the bloc\u2019s stance that there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine and that the Europeans must be involved in any talks involving their security. The Europeans have so far been sidelined in the US-led negotiations with Russia.<\/p>\n
In other developments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said talks between Ukraine and the US on ending the war will take place in Saudi Arabia next week. In his nightly address, Zelensky said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country\u2019s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with US officials.
\nIn recent weeks, Trump has overturned old certainties about the reliability of the US as a security partner as he embraces Russia, withdraws American support for Ukraine and upends the tradition of cooperation with Europe that has been the bedrock of Western security for generations.
\nPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country holds the EU\u2019s rotating presidency, said that three years of war in Ukraine and a shift in attitudes in Washington \u201cpose entirely new challenges for us, and Europe must take up this challenge … and it must win.\u201d
\n\u201cWe will arm ourselves faster, smarter and more efficiently than Russia,\u201d Tusk said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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