“I hope … that this greater mobilization of Europe, both member states and Europe as a whole, when it comes to defense and security funding, will become an unequivocal fact,” said Tusk after a meeting with European Council President António Costa.
Costa earlier Tuesday announced a video conference of European leaders Wednesday morning ahead of the special summit to be debriefed on French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit on Monday to Washington, D.C., where met with United States President Donald Trump to push for security guarantees for Ukraine.
The week prior, Trump placed into question U.S. involvement in the conflict and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections.”
“We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security,” Costa said in a social media post announcing his decision to convene the special summit.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet Trump on Thursday. He announced on Tuesday that the United Kingdom will increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2027.
