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LAST UPDATE | 6 Mar
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy thanked the EU’s leaders for their show of support as he arrived in Brussels for a special summit on the Ukraine war and European defence.
“We are very thankful that we are not alone – and these are not just words, we feel it,” Zelenskyy told reporters.
Flanked by Commission President Ursula von der Leyan and Antonia Costa, the head of the European Council, Zelenskyy said he was grateful for support throughout the war, adding “during all this period, and the last week, you stayed with us”.
Today’s meeting was arranged before last Friday’s Oval Office blowup between Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, but has taken on an increased significance in the wake of that row and the subsequent decisions by the US to withdraw military and intelligence support from Ukraine.
Leaders from across the EU have been showing their public support of Zelenskyy in the wake of the dispute, and Von der Leyan reiterated to the Ukrainian President this morning that the bloc was with him for “as long as it takes”.
Describing today’s meeting as a “watershed moment” for Europe and Ukraine, Von der Leyan said the EU had to be able to protect itself and needed to put Ukraine in a position “to push for a lasting and just peace”.
Referring to the Russian threat as a “clear and present danger”, she said she would be putting her plan to mobilise €800 billion for European defence to the 27 EU heads of government today.
EU countries, including Ireland, will be incentivised to “massively boost” spending on military capability and defence as part of the ‘ReArm Europe’ plan announced earlier this week.
Key to the proposals are steps to encourage defence investments by easing budget rules for member states, as well as a new €150 billion loan facility.
While it’s not expected any concrete decisions will be made about implementing the plan, leaders could give a green light to the commission to continue with the plan in the course of today’s meeting.
The Commission President said her plan would give member states fiscal space to invest in defence alongside “the possibility to invest in Ukraine’s defence industry or invest in procuring military capabilities that go right away to Ukraine”.
Zelenskyy, standing alongside her, described the plan as a “great decision”.
Massive step up of press activity as Zelenskyy arrives, welcomed by Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa... pic.twitter.com/E2Yv8MgyDO
— Daragh Brophy (@DaraghBroph) March 6, 2025
Today’s event is the latest in a flurry of summits and high-level meetings aimed at bolstering European security and backing Ukraine.
It comes in the wake of last Sunday’s London summit of 18 leaders – mostly from Europe and including Zelenskyy – hosted by Keir Starmer, where the UK Prime Minister announced plans for a “coalition of the willing” to defend any Ukraine peace deal.
The presumptive next chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, who yesterday announced a plan to rearm his country in a way not seen since the days before World War 2, was also invited to attend meetings at the Europa Building in Brussels today.
Merz recently warned that Europe was in a situation of being “five minutes from midnight” amid the escalating threat from Russia and as the US steps back from its role as Europe’s traditional security backstop.
Neither Zelenskyy or Merz will be in the room for the summit itself, which will be limited to the 27 leaders.
EU leaders usually issue an agreed statement in the wake of these exceptional meetings – but the presence of Hungary’s prime minister Victor Orban may put paid to any strongly-worded joint statement.
Orban – the only EU leader to have maintained close ties with Moscow in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – sided with Trump in the wake of Friday’s bitter Oval Office row, and has insisted the EU should start its own direct talks with Putin.
The Hungarian leader was in Paris yesterday to meet with Emmanuel Macron as part of the French President’s efforts to persuade all of his European counterparts to sing from the same hymn sheet.
However, with Slovakia’s Robert Fico also opposed to the current EU approach to Ukraine, it’s possible the statement issued at the end of the summit could be missing out on a few signatures.
Donnacha Ó Beacháin, professor of politics at Dublin City University, said he expected today’s summit to be a “very challenging” one.
“That’s not only because you have a Russian adversary, you also have a hostile US administration. Trump, of course, has said the EU was established to do the US down – in his own words, to ‘screw’ with the United States.”
Ó Beacháin added: “I think it’s imperative that the European Union carves out its own place geopolitically. It needs to articulate clearly what it expects a final agreement between Ukraine and Russia might look like.
“It also needs to communicate strongly how it envisages its relationship with the US given the very different policies and priorities of the Trump administration.”
Speaking in a statement ahead of the meeting, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said European Leaders will “send a strong signal of our unshakeable commitment to Ukraine”.
He added that Ireland will “continue to offer what support we can” and pointed to an agreement this week to provide a further €100 million in non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Martin will advocate for Ukraine’s application for membership of the EU to be “accelerated”.
Speaking on his way into the summit, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda suggested 31 January 2030 as a provisional date for Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, stressing that it wouldn’t be a legal definition but a political commitment.
The Taoiseach, who was meeting with Starmer at a UK-Ireland summit in Liverpool this morning, joined his counterparts in Brussels after lunchtime.
Want to know more about what’s happening in Ukraine and why? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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