European Union countries must purchase military equipment made in Europe under a new loan programme meant to help the continent provide for its own security, a top EU official said Tuesday, even though most of its defence materiel currently comes from US suppliers. At a summit last week, the EU's 27 leaders weighed a European Commission proposal for a new loan plan worth 150 billion euros (USD 163 billion). It would be used to buy air defence systems, drones and strategic enablers like air transport, as well as to boost cybersecurity. These loans should finance purchases from European producers, to help boost our own defence industry, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers. Von der Leyen said the contracts should be multiannual, to give the industry the predictability they need and that the priority should be for countries to buy equipment together in groups because we have seen how powerful this can be. European NATO members have placed about two-thirds of th
On March 3, Musk wrote on X he agreed with a suggestion by a conservative commentator that the US should leave both NATO and the United Nations
President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the US's defence if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after September 11 the only time in its history that the defence guarantee has been invoked. Trump also suggested that the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defence spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration's commitment to the military alliance was ironclad. Trump's comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defence. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump's cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the US president seeks to pressure Ukraine in
The chief of the European Union's executive on Tuesday proposed an 800 billion euro (USD 841 billion) plan to beef up defences of EU nations to lessen the impact of potential US disengagement and provide Ukraine with military muscle to negotiate with Russia following the freeze of US aid to the embattled nation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the massive REARM Europe package will be put to the 27 EU leaders who will meet in Brussels on Thursday in an emergency meeting following a week of increasing political uncertainty from Washington, where President Donald Trump questioned both his alliance to the continent and the defence of Ukraine. I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face," von der Leyen said. Key to the quandary of EU nations has been an unwillingness to spend much on defense over the past decades as they hid under the US nuclear umbrella and a sluggish economy, which creates challenges for a quick ramp-up of such ...
He said he told Zelenskyy that "we really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine"
This comes after he indicated that he was ready to quit as Ukraine's president if it meant Kyiv would be admitted to the Nato alliance
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz's conservatives were on course for a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats after what he called "a bitter election result". Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election. Merz vowed to move quickly to put together a coalition government. But that's likely to be a complicated task. The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz's unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates. The campaign was dominated by worries about the years-lon
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he would be ready to give up the presidency if it brought peace and NATO membership. Speaking at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he would step down if doing so would achieve a lasting peace for his country under the security umbrella of the NATO military alliance. If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I'm ready, Zelenskyy said in response to a journalist's question on whether he'd trade his office for peace. I can trade it for NATO." Zelenskyy's comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that elections should be held in Ukraine despite Ukrainian legislation prohibiting them during martial law.
The key element of Mr Trump's deal appears to centre on veiled threats to withdraw US military aid to Ukraine to persuade Kyiv to cede to Russia territory
Zakharova said that Ukraine needed to return to the position of its 1990 declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union, in which Kyiv said that it would become a permanently neutral state
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States, including the Biden administration, never saw Ukraine as a NATO member. Zelenskyy spoke Friday to the Munich Security Conference. He is expected to meet with US Vice President JD Vance later. Many observers, particularly in Europe, hope Vance will shed at least some light on US President Donald Trump's ideas for a negotiated settlement to the war following a phone call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week.
Hegseth on Thursday defended his remarks as acknowledgement of battlefield realities and left the door open for US moves during negotiations that could be seen as concessions
Several NATO allies stressed on Thursday that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations, after US President Donald Trump signalled that he would hold talks soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Let's not forget, Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary John Healey after the United States rattled NATO by saying that Ukraine should never join the alliance and that European allies should take responsibility for Ukraine's security going forward. There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine's voice must be at the heart of any talks, Healey told reporters at NATO headquarters, as the organization's 32 defense ministers met for talks on Ukraine. Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said European nations provided about 60% of the military support to Ukraine last year and must be involved, especially given US. demands that Europe take more responsibility for Ukraine's security in the longer term. It's very natura
The comments amounted to a major reorientation of US policy as President Donald Trump looks for ways to bring the war in Ukraine to an end
Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude for Dragone's first foreign visit to Ukraine
EU leaders are expected to discuss what military capabilities they need in the coming years, how they could be funded and how they might cooperate more through joint projects
With its powerful camera, the French Navy surveillance plane scouring the Baltic Sea zoomed in on a cargo ship ploughing the waters below closer, closer and closer still until the camera operator could make out details on the vessel's front deck and smoke pouring from its chimney. The long-range Atlantique 2 aircraft on a new mission for NATO then shifted its high-tech gaze onto another target, and another after that until, after more than five hours on patrol, the plane's array of sensors had scoped out the bulk of the Baltic from Germany in the west to Estonia in the northeast, bordering Russia. The flight's mere presence in the skies above the strategic sea last week, combined with military ships patrolling on the waters, also sent an unmistakable message: The NATO alliance is ratcheting up its guard against suspected attempts to sabotage underwater energy and data cables and pipelines that crisscross the Baltic, prompted by a growing catalogue of incidents that have damaged ...
Washington finances 15.8 per cent of the 32-member military alliance's yearly expenditure of around $3.5 billion, joint-largest share, alongside Germany
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is seeking a meeting with Trump, said on Tuesday that at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed to prevent a new Russian attack
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday that the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region. Rutte said at a meeting in Helsinki with the leaders of NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea that the effort would be dubbed Baltic Sentry. It will involve a range of assets, including frigates and maritime patrol aircraft, among others, and will enhance our vigilance in the Baltic, Rutte told reporters. He also said that a small fleet of naval drones will be deployed to provide enhanced surveillance and deterrence. The meeting comes as a string of incidents in the Baltic has heightened concerns about possible Russian activities in the region.