Europe Races to Craft a Trump-Era Plan for Ukraine and Defense
The New York Times
European leaders are gathering in Brussels to discuss how to support Ukraine and fend more for themselves on defense.
European Union leaders are confronting one of the biggest challenges in the bloc’s history as an aggressive Russia looms to the east and American support wavers from the west.
On Thursday, they pledged to rise to the challenge.
Leaders gathered at a specially convened meeting in Brussels to discuss how to bolster both Europe’s own defenses and its support for Ukraine amid enormously high stakes. They must figure out how to accomplish these aims without further alienating their tempestuous allies in Washington. At the same time, they are struggling to keep a united front even among their own member countries as Hungary strikes a critical note toward Ukraine.
Officials heading into the meeting expressed a new sense of urgency as they pledged to push for a strong peace for Ukraine and a more independent future for European defense.
“Europe faces a clear and present danger,” Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the E.U. executive arm, said as she walked into the gathering alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, calling this a “watershed moment.”
Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, was even blunter.
