איחוד האירופי מגדיל את תקציב הביטחון ודן באפשרות לשלוח כוחות שמירת שלום לאוקראינה

In a joint statement on Thursday, 26 of 27 EU member states pledged to increase defence spending and maintain strong support for Ukraine. EU leaders backed a European Commission proposal allowing more fiscal flexibility for defence. They also discussed a plan to jointly borrow up to about $162 billion to strengthen their militaries. The new defence spending aligns with Trump's request for Europe. Some EU member states also said they hope this spending can be carried out within a However, EU leaders have recently intensified their stance against Russia, accusing the country of being a direct threat to European nations and engaging in election interference. Meanwhile, a former official with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Benoît Paré, says Macron's speech on Wednesday marks a turning point in French diplomacy. He somehow raised the bar higher in terms of the perception of the threat from Russia. So this is some kind of an unprecedented step. I don't think he had ever been so clear about the idea of a threat, a direct threat coming from Russia. EU leaders this week have discussed the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. Some countries, including France, Italy and the UK, are willing to do it. However, Russia didn't agree to such a proposal, saying this would lead to an extremely dangerous escalation. I mean, President Trump right now is on a course not to put boots on the ground, but to have a ceasefire and to have peace agreements in Ukraine. This is what President Trump stands for as of now, clearly, he said so repeatedly. But the European Union leaders, they are on an opposite path. They do not want peace at any cost. They want peace at Ukraine's conditions and not at Russia's conditions. Zelensky said on Thursday that US and Ukrainian officials will meet next week to discuss a peace plan. David Vives, NTD News, Paris.