Ukraine updates: EU leaders back new defense spending plans

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced he will be traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, where his team will meet with American partners for talks on ending the war in his country.

Follow our live updates here.

European nations are under pressure following the Trump administration's decision to distance the US from European security, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying Europe has shown that it was "willing and able" to step up efforts to coordinate effectively. 

So how united is EU in its support for Ukraine? DW Correspondent Jack Parrock explains here. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had been approached by other leaders all day during an EU summit in Brussels about his offer to extend French nuclear deterrence and hopes to see cooperation by the end of the first half of 2025.

He also hit back at Russian reactions to his calling Moscow an existential threat to Europe, saying the Kremlin had clearly been triggered by the fact their game had been uncovered.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said before entering a meeting of European leaders in Brussels that Europe was at a 'watershed' moment and so was Ukraine.

At the end of the summit, where EU leaders agreed to loosen EU fiscal rules to allow member states the fiscal space to increase military spending, von der Leyen said: "Today history is being written."

She said the 27 EU leaders are "determined to ensure Europe's 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."

EU leaders also urged the European Commission to seek new ways "to facilitate significant defense spending" in all member states, a statement said. 

EU leaders on Thursday agreed to massively boost their defense spending in light of the Trump administration's signals that the US would take less responsibility for Europe's security.

"Whatever happens in Ukraine, we need to build autonomous defense capacities in Europe," French President Macron said after the summit.

The European Council chief Antonio Costas struck a similar note, saying: "We are putting our money where our mouth is. We are delivering on what we promised, to build our deterrence to strengthen the security of our citizens."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the EU's decision to relax debt rules so that EU countries can increase their defense spending, saying they were following Germany's recent example.

Regarding the French offer to provide Europe with a nuclear umbrella that could replace the current US one, there was some disagreement.

Scholz played down the option of replacing US nuclear protection, but Macron said after the summit that numerous EU leaders had approached him about the plan, adding that he hoped to see some cooperation by the middle of the year.

European leaders convened for an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday, after the Trump administration signaled that the US would no longer be the main guarantor of security for the continent.

The Trump administration has paused military aid as well as intelligence sharing with Ukraine, as it seeks to up the pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy to accept a truce with Russia.

At the meeting, EU leaders hailed the European Commission's proposals this week to give them fiscal flexibility on defense spending, and to jointly borrow up to €150 billion ($160 billion) to lend to EU governments to spend on their militaries.

In a joint statement agreed by all 27 member states, the leaders called on their ministers to examine these proposals in detail urgently.

The EU leaders also voiced support for Ukraine, but the EU statement on the topic was not endorsed by Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban, a Trump ally.

In their statement, the 26 other EU leaders stressed that there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine, and vowed to continue to give it aid, according to a recent draft.

A spokesman for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) said the party was seeking defense talks with French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

"We are happy to discuss this issue with Ms Le Pen and develop common security policy ideas for Europe," Daniel Tapp was quoted as saying by German news agency DPA.

The AfD has openly collaborated with Le Pen's National Rally (formerly National Front) in the past. However, the ties between the two factions have cooled significantly in recent years.

With Le Pen seeking to soften her image, the French politician has distanced herself not only from her party's past, which included Holocaust denial and hate speech, but from the AfD as well, going so far as to block them from joining her party's group in the European Parliament.

Moreover, the parties disagree on Ukraine policy. Le Pen recently called US President Trump's decision to stop aid to Ukraine as "very cruel" and "reprehensible." The AfD under leader Alice Weidel, however, are opposed to further intervention in the conflict and praised Trump's stance.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that the whole EU be covered by his country's nuclear umbrella, calling it "a threat against Russia."

"If he sees us as a threat... and says that it is necessary to use a nuclear weapon, is preparing to use a nuclear weapon against Russia, of course it is a threat," Lavrov told reporters.

President Putin made his own response later, saying: "There are still people who want to return to the times of Napoleon, forgetting how it ended."

Putin's comments were referencing a military defeat French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte suffered in Russia in 1812.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev added to the pile-on, mocking Macron's height by calling him "Micron."

"Micron himself poses no big threat though. He'll disappear forever no later than May 14, 2027. And he won't be missed," he wrote on social media, naming the likely date of France's next presidential elections.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said they would take steps to help Ukraine following the US suspension of aid and intelligence support.

''We are working to compensate for the loss of US assistance with new measures,'' he stated during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov.

Germany, which has been Ukraine’s second-largest supporter after the US, is discussing a €3 billion aid package and reconsidering sending Kyiv long-range Taurus missiles.

Rejecting Trump’s push for negotiations, Pistorius said there is ''no indication on the ground or in the skies'' that Vladimir Putin is ready for peace. 

Russia's President Putin said that any "peace option" for the conflict must "suit us and...ensure peace of mind for our country with a long historical perspective."

According to Interfax news agency, Putin was speaking at a meeting for the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, a veterans group founded following the invasion of Ukraine.

He stressed that Moscow would only accept a plan where Russian settlement would be able to continue "in conditions of peace and security."

"We will not give away our own" territory, he added. The comment was likely referencing changes to Russia's constitution in recent years that claim Crimea as well as Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts — not all of which is currently occupied by Russian forces — as its own.

Sweden will send up to eight Gripen fighter jets to participate in a NATO mission to police Poland's airspace, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said.

The aircraft will contribute to protecting logistics operations to support Ukraine, which borders Poland, Stenergard said.

"By participating in the operation, we are helping to get aid to Ukraine," the minister told a press conference.

She added that Stockholm will also "contribute air and maritime surveillance capabilities and airborne transport capabilities."

The remarks come one day before the first anniversary of Sweden's accession to NATO, a move that was triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and which ended 200 years of military non-alignment.

Poland's Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz took to X to thank Sweden for its decision, which he said "demonstrates our solidarity and unity in the face of threats to our security."

Lithuania has officially withdrawn from an international convention banning cluster bombs because of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The treaty, which was adopted in 2008 and signed by over 100 countries, prohibits the production, purchase, and use of the weapons.

The Baltic state's defense minister Dovile Sakaliene told a Lithuanian radio station Ziniu that the move was intended to send a "strategic message that we are prepared to use absolutely everything" to deter any potential Russian aggression.

Lithuania, a former Soviet state, shares a border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow ally Belarus.

Authorities in the Baltic state have sought to boost its national security in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Lithuania — a member of NATO and the EU — is the first nation to pull out of the convention.

Rights groups including Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have all condemned the move.

Cluster munitions are weapons that detonate in the air above their targets before scattering smaller explosives. Their use is controversial as they can be dangerous to civilians because many of the bombs land as duds and fail to detonate.

Both Russia and Ukraine have used the weapons since the war began three years ago.

Russia rejected the possibility of a temporary ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv — a proposal floated by French President Emmanuel Macron during the London summit over the weekend.

"Firm agreements on a final settlement are needed. Without all that, some kind of respite is absolutely unacceptable," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

She also said Moscow still expects the US to appoint a special representative for the talks on the Ukraine war, and Russia would then name its own delegate.

"As for the participation of Ukrainian representatives in the negotiations ...The first point is [Ukranian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's expired term of office, his questionable legitimacy. The second point is the current decree signed by Zelenskyy himself, which forbids him to negotiate with the Russian side, the Russian leadership," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

According to Zakharova, “until these issues are somehow resolved, settled and eliminated, all Ukrainian statements in this regard are unsupported."

After meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban indicated he would support boosting European defense capabilities.

Orban met with the French president at the Elysee palace after Macron delivered an address during which he floated the possibility of extending France's nuclear deterrence to European partners.

"My meetings in France confirmed that while we may disagree on the modalities of peace, we do agree that we must strengthen the defense capabilities of European nations, and these efforts should empower member states rather than Brussels bureaucrats," the Hungarian president posted on X ahead of an EU leaders' summit in Brussels.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Orban has kept close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Orban has repeatedly delayed previous decisions on EU sanctions on Russia before eventually approving them, usually having extracted some headline-grabbing concessions that play well with his domestic base.

In January, Orban again threatened to use Hungary's veto power to block the extension of EU sanctions on Russia, before eventually giving in. 

Despite saying he supports common European defense, Orban has again signaled he would not back a proposed joint statement on support for Ukraine.

Two of Ukraine's main opposition figures have dismissed the idea of holding an election before peace is secured.

Ukraine had been due to hold elections in 2024 but under Ukrainian law, an election cannot be held during wartime.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that four figures connected to US President Donald Trump had met with some of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's political opponents to float the idea of speedy elections.

The talks were reportedly held with two-time former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and senior members of the party of former president Petro Poroshenko.

In a statement on Thursday, Tymoshenko said her team "is negotiating with all our allies who are able to help ensure a just peace as soon as possible."

"Until then, and I have said this more than once, holding any elections in Ukraine is out of the question," she wrote.

Meanwhile, Poroshenko, who has been engaged in a long-running rivalry with Zelenskyy, also said elections should wait until there is peace.

Poroshenko said his team "has always been and remains categorically against holding elections during the war."

"We have said, and continue to say, that elections can only take place after a ceasefire and the signing of a peace agreement with security guarantees for Ukraine," he said in a statement on Thursday.

He added that his team works "publicly and transparently to maintain bipartisan support for Ukraine."