Key events
Morning opening: Five minutes to midnight
Jakub Krupa
Four days after the London summit on Sunday, European leaders meet again – this time in Brussels and with a complete line-up, including both the (very keen) Baltics and the (very much not keen) Hungarians and Slovaks – to discuss what’s next for Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday for a summit to discuss an €800bn (£660bn) plan to bolster Europe’s defence industry, increase military capability and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine.
In a dramatic intervention on Wednesday evening, French president Emmanuel Macron warned in a TV address that Russian aggression would not stop at Ukraine and was a direct threat to France and Europe.
He further said said he had decided “to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent by our [nuclear] deterrent” but stressed any use of France’s nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president.
Macron said in his address: “I want to believe the US will stay by our side. But we have to be ready if that isn’t the case.
“Europe’s future should not be decided in Washington or Moscow, and yes the threat from the east is returning. And the innocence of these 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall is over.”
The French president’s move comes in response to a push by German election winner Friedrich Merz, who recently called for a discussion on “nuclear sharing” with France. He is not the German chancellor just yet, but will be in Brussels this morning too, joining informal talks with EU leaders. He is keen to hit the ground running, as proven by his major “bazooka” plan for German defence and infrastructure.
After Macron’s address, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the French president, saying: “Peace must be real, not just a word – it cannot mean Ukraine’s capitulation or collapse. It must be just, reliable, and lasting, and this can only be achieved through strong and long-term security guarantees – for Ukraine, Europe, and the entire world.”
He will hope that they can engineer how this could work over a working lunch in Brussels.
European leaders are increasingly determined to act after Donald Trump ordered a pause on all critical US military aid for Ukraine against Russia, three years into the invasion, following an explosive public confrontation in the Oval Office last week with Zelenskyy.
There are some early signs that the two sides are back talking about next steps, with Zelenskyy saying last night that “the Ukrainian and American teams began working on an upcoming meeting,” and they “hope to see some results next week.”
But the EU is no longer happy to trust and support this process hope for the best. Not any more.
Despite it being one of the most annoying cliches in politics, this summit really does feel like five minutes to midnight.
We will bring you the latest here.
It’s Thursday, 6 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.