Trump Zelenskyy, Europe Ready To Boost Defense Spending For Ukraine

JAKARTA - European leaders are expected to agree to increase defense spending and reaffirm support for Ukraine at a summit on Thursday.

President Donald Trump's suspension of military aid to Kyiv sparked fears the European Union (EU) could no longer rely on US protection.

Leaders from 27 European Union countries will be accompanied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit in Brussels, Belgium, although Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban, Trump's ally, may veto a unanimous statement in favor of Kyiv.

Although the summit will provide support and plans to increase defense spending, Europe is not expected to be fully capable of replacing suspended US aid. Washington provided more than 40% of military aid to Ukraine last year, according to NATO, some of which Europe cannot easily provide.

The meeting took place under the backdrop of dramatic defense policy decisions driven by Russia's concerns that it might attack the next EU country and that Europe cannot rely on the US to provide its assistance.

"I want to believe that the United States will support us. But we have to be prepared if that doesn't happen," French President Emmanuel Macron said of the war in Ukraine in a speech in front of France ahead of the summit.

As a sign of the severity of the current situation, Macron said France was open to discussing the expansion of the protection it offers its nuclear arsenal to its European partners. He stressed that Russia has become a threat to all of Europe.

"Facing this dangerous world, staying in the audience is a mess," Macron said.

On Tuesday, parties wishing to form the next German government agreed to relax lending limits to allow billions of euros in additional defense spending.

The European Commission executive body of the EU also launched a proposal that it said could mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($860 billion) for European defense, including plans to borrow up to 150 billion euros ($160 billion) to be awarded to the EU government.

"This provides more fiscal space to member states for military spending and provides possibilities for joint procurement at the European level," European Commission chairman Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

"And more importantly, it also benefits Ukraine," he stressed.