European Union (EU) leaders will look to reach an agreement on a new package of armaments for Ukraine at an emergency summit next week, according to the bloc’s senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
Europe is scrambling to support Ukraine after US President Donald Trump surprised Kyiv and its continental allies by initiating talks with Russia to resolve the Kremlin’s three-year conflict.
Kallas urged that the 27-nation bloc commit to providing Ukraine with a large package of critical weapons, including air defences, artillery shells, and missiles, as soon as feasible.
According to Kallas, EU foreign ministers gathering in Brussels “broadly supported the new initiative for military assistance to Ukraine.”
“The details, especially the numbers, will be decided and discussed at the extraordinary European summit on March 6,” she said.
Officials said no firm figure had been presented thus far; however, the EU’s diplomatic arm has raised the existing 20 billion euros ($21 billion) paid annually by the group since the invasion as a “benchmark.”
Diplomats claimed several countries were urging the final figure to be substantially greater.
Following Trump’s startling openness to Moscow, EU leaders are scheduled to gather in Brussels next week for urgent talks on supporting Kyiv and strengthening their defences.
“We have to put Ukraine in a position of strength so that Ukraine can say no to a bad deal,” Kallas noted.
Hungary, which is friendly to both Trump and Russia, could reject the new arms package.
Budapest has already expressed objection to the initiative, claiming that it will “prolong the war.”
