Europe Ready to Do More for Ukraine's Security: Peace Through Strength, Rejection of 'Minsk', Increased Defence Spending

Following an emergency mini-summit of European leaders from Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark in Paris, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Europe is ready to take a leading role in providing security guarantees to Ukraine.

‘Ready and willing. This is my opinion about today's meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and willing to step forward. To take the lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine,’ the NATO Secretary General said.

According to him, Europe is ready to invest more in its security.

‘The details are still to be decided, but the commitment is clear,’ he concluded.

The meeting was also attended by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Antonio Costa.

In general, the participants of the informal meeting of EU leaders, heads of key European institutions and NATO agreed on key principles for further action in the field of continuing assistance to Ukraine and strengthening European defence, including achieving ‘peace through strength’ in Ukraine and agreeing to the fairness of the US demands to increase European allies' defence budgets, Ukrinform reports.

Also, the countries participating in the meeting are ready to increase their own defence budgets, both individually and within the EU, in order to better share the burden with the United States in security efforts.

The night before, on 17 February, an emergency mini-summit on Ukraine's security was held in Paris, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron after US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said that the United States did not see Europe at the table to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Macron informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone about the results of the meeting in Paris. ‘We share a common vision: security guarantees must be strong and reliable. Any other solution without such guarantees - for example, a shaky ceasefire - will only be another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new war by Russia against Ukraine or other European countries,’ Zelenskyy said after his conversation with Macron.

According to him, Macron also informed about his talks with other leaders, not only European ones.

Earlier, Romania and Slovenia expressed their disappointment at not being invited to the Paris summit organised by Emmanuel Macron. Following this, officials from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Hungary said that the decision not to invite most member states to the security meeting organised in Paris on 17 February risks sending the wrong signal about the unity of the bloc.