BRUSSELS (AN) – The European Commission proposed an unprecedented €800 billion emergency defense funding package in response to the United States' abrupt decision to cut all military aid to Kyiv and align itself with Russia's views on the Ukraine war.
The five-point plan, unveiled as "ReArm Europe" on Tuesday, is Europe's largest military and economic mobilization effort this century, aimed at filling the void left by the geopolitical earthquake triggered by the Trump administration’s withdrawal from European security guarantees that has ruptured the transatlantic alliance.
"A new era is upon us. Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us have seen in our adult lifetime," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote in a letter to European Union leaders. "The future of a free and sovereign Ukraine – of a safe and prosperous Europe – is on the line."
The start of the fourth year of Russia’s invasion has seen intensified assaults on civilian populations across Ukraine, with near-daily drone and missile strikes targeting infrastructure and power stations. Ukrainian forces have managed to defend approximately 80% of their territory against a nuclear-armed adversary with vastly superior military resources and manpower.
Though not yet formally accepted, the proposal will be discussed at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday.
The E.U.'s initiative, equal to $845 billion, represents a seismic increase from the €500 billion ($528 billion) the bloc previously projected would be required for the defense of Ukraine and its member states over the next decade.
For perspective, Russian military spending exceeded $100 billion in 2023, while the United States, the world‘s largest military by far, budgeted $883 billion for defense in 2025 alone.
European officials have already begun intense diplomatic outreach to allies beyond the continent, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea, seeking to build a broad coalition as Washington shifts its stance toward Moscow.
Von der Leyen outlined the stakes in her letter, citing two potential paths forward for the E.U.'s 27 nations.
“The first is to muddle through this current period in a managerial way – to make piecemeal or incremental responses to the situation on the ground in Ukraine or elsewhere,” she wrote. “The second is to meet the moment. To mobilize Europe's immense resources. To summon our collective spirit to defend democracy."
"I believe the second option is our only choice," she concluded.
The five-point plan
The Commission's plan relies entirely on loan programs, leveraging the E.U.'s financial weight to borrow and channel funds to member nations with the expectation of repayment.
The plan's first component would activate what's known as the "national escape clause," similar to measures used during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling E.U. members to exceed deficit limits for defense spending.
A €150 billion funding instrument forms the second pillar, aimed at pan-European investment in "air and missile defense, artillery systems, missiles and ammunition, drones and anti-drone systems," von der Leyen said, adding it will help member nations "pool demand and buy together."
The remaining components include exploring additional funding through the E.U. budget, accelerating the Savings and Investments Union project – which aims to create a genuine single market for financing in the E.U., with no internal national borders – and mobilizing private capital through the European Investment Bank.
Despite concerns about potential obstruction from Hungary, a known Russian ally with veto power in E.U. frameworks requiring unanimity, European leaders appear determined to present a united front.
"The question is no longer whether Europe's security is threatened in a very real way," von der Leyen stated. "The real question in front of us is whether Europe is prepared to act as decisively as the situation dictates."
War enters fourth year as aid hangs in the balance
The United States has provided approximately $67 billion in military aid to Ukraine as part of a total $119 billion in overall assistance. Europe has committed roughly $138 billion, with about $65 billion designated for military support.
Ukraine depends critically on U.S.-supplied Patriot air-defense missiles — the only system capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, including the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons that have targeted Kyiv.
A senior Ukrainian official said its military would likely exhaust its cache of American military supplies within "two or three months," the Financial Times reported.
"After that, it will be very difficult for us. It will not be a total collapse, but we will be forced to withdraw from areas more quickly," the official was quoted as saying.
The human toll of the conflict continues to mount. Millions of Ukrainians remain displaced both internally and abroad, with relentless Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure causing widespread suffering.
Power outages have become routine while Russia systematically targets energy facilities, particularly as winter temperatures plunge below freezing.
Ukraine's position and Russia's response
The E.U. emergency declaration follows a diplomatic meltdown at the White House, where a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump — originally planned as a signing ceremony for a minerals-for-aid deal — devolved into a public assault on the Ukrainian leader.
Following the U.S. announcement cutting off aid, Zelenskyy issued a measured response to the diplomatic collapse in Washington: "It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive."
The Ukrainian president emphasized his country's desire for peace. "None of us wants an endless war," he said. "Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians."
Zelenskyy stressed that meaningful security guarantees are essential for any sustainable peace, pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s history of breaking past agreements. He noted that the absence of such guarantees had emboldened Russia to annex Crimea in 2014, fuel the war in Donbas, and ultimately launch its full-scale invasion in 2022.
“The world sees this, and the world acknowledges it,” Zelenskyy said. “We need peace, true and honest peace – not endless war. And security guarantees are essential.”
Moscow celebrated Washington's decision to cut off aid to Kyiv, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov calling it "the best contribution towards peace," according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
As Europe confronts what many see as a fundamental test of its security architecture, von der Leyen expressed appreciation for America's historical role while emphasizing the continent's new reality.
"This is a moment for Europe," she said. "And we are ready to step up."
Transatlantic alliance fractures
The U.S. move to slash military aid to Ukraine sparked unprecedented criticism from across Europe's political spectrum, as European leaders confront the reality that the transatlantic security framework that underpinned continental peace for decades effectively no longer exists.
Even Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader often sympathetic to Russia with deep personal ties to Putin, condemned the decision. "I find the brutality of this decision reprehensible. It is very cruel to the Ukrainian soldiers who are patriotically defending their country," she said. "We are seeing the consequences of Europe's digital submission to the United States."
The fracture deepened with inflammatory comments from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who questioned Europe's commitment to the conflict and openly denigrated longtime U.S. allies.
"You have Zelenskyy, he goes to Europe, and a lot of our European friends puff him up and say, you're a freedom fighter, you need to keep fighting forever, well fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition, and with whose lives?" Vance said, dismissively referring to allies like Britain and France as “some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years."
Vance further inflamed tensions by claiming that U.S. economic guarantees would serve Ukraine better than military assistance from European allies. His remarks sparked fury across European capitals, particularly in London and Paris, which have committed to a European peace stabilization force in Ukraine.
French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad argued that Trump's move had made peace more distant because it "only strengthens the hand of the aggressor on the ground, which is Russia."
Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, the U.K.'s leading defense and security think tank, agreed. "President Trump says he is neutral in the war. Withholding the U.S. military support Ukraine is using to defend itself from ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine's territory is not neutrality," she said. "It is enabling Russian aggression."
Strategic stakes
Matthew Savill, RUSI's director of military sciences, said Europe would probably need to double annual artillery shell production to compensate for the loss of American supplies.
Military expert Michael Koffman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, said the aid suspension, while unfortunate, "may not have immediate impact" because Ukraine depends far less on the U.S. for "day-to-day battlefield needs" now than it did earlier in the war.
"Most of the casualties are now inflicted with mines and drones, which are produced in Ukraine," he said.
Analysts warned, however, that Russia could interpret the American withdrawal as vindication of its strategy. The Washington-based think tank, Institute for the Study of War, said a suspension of U.S. military aid to Ukraine would encourage Putin to raise his demands and expectations that he can win the war.
"Russia would leverage the cessation of U.S. aid to Ukraine to seize more territory in Ukraine," it said, "and attempt to exhaust European support – the approach Putin has outlined in his theory of victory."
