European Union leaders have held emergency talks to explore new ways to beef up their own security and ensure that Ukraine will still be protected amid the prospect that the United States might cut them adrift under President Donald Trump.

The 27 leaders signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so willing EU countries can increase military spending. They also urged the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, to explore new ways to facilitate significant defense spending in all member states,

"Europe faces a clear and present danger," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post to X as Zelenskyy arrived.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia's President Vladimir Putin was set on Ukraine's "capitulation", as she announced 3.5 billion euros of fresh aid to Kyiv. His goal remains Ukraine's capitulation,

Ursula von der Leyen says she and other European leaders ... as well as a large-scale prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow, at a meeting in Saudi Arabia next week. “We all need to feel ...