Polish prime minister Donald Tusk spoke with reporters in Warsaw early morning, before leaving for Brussels, saying the EU summit will be about “finalising the first stage of perhaps the most important European project in last decades: making Europe safe, armed, and united against the Russian threat.”
“You may remember how oftentimes we were alone in warning other European partners against the Russian threat … and now are about to see Europe unite around the very same problem that often saw Poland stand alone,” he said.
Tusk also urged Poland’s president Andrzej Duda to sign into law the bill on migration and asylum law changes, giving the government’s the right to temporarily suspend asylum applications from irregular migrants.
He said the move was needed to counter “the pressure on our border with Belarus … which is growing” as he accused Alexander Lukashenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin of encouraging irregular migration to put pressure on the EU’s external borders, waging “a de facto war – they call it hybrid [war], but it’s something more serious than hybrid war” against Poland.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk pictured at a European Union leaders special summit to discuss Ukraine and European defence in Brussels earlier this month. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/ReutersShare
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We need to help Ukraine become EU member ‘as soon as possible, latest by 2030,’ Finnish PM says after meeting Zelenskyy
Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said acknowledged that “we can see that the EU has lessons learned from the war in Ukraine,” recognising that “Russia is and will be the permanent threat to the EU and Europe.”
He said the target should to be make “the European pillar of Nato as strong as possible and less dependent on others.”
“It is a very ambitious goal, but we have to start right now,” he stressed,
Orpo also drew on his conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was in Helsinki on Wednesday, saying “they really want to be a member of the EU; they want to be one of us, and that is why we have to help them, support them in their path to the membership as soon as possible, latest by 2030.”
Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo, left, chats with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, on the pier at Kesaeranta, the official residence of the Prime Minister in Helsinki yesterday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidentia/Planet Pix/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/ShutterstockShare
Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis backed the EU’s white paper on defence, saying he was “happy” with the content as he “has been advocating for quite some time for the need to give more fiscal flexibility to the member states, to spend more on defence.”
“I see that is included in the white paper, and we hope that it will be soon approved by our ministers of finance,” he said.
He added, however, that “I would urge us to be even more ambitious, although I think it’s an it’s an excellent first step,” he said.
Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. Photograph: Omar Havana/APShareEurope ‘stepping up,’ but needs to be ready to defend itself in 3-5 years, Danish PM says
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on arrival that it was “encouraging … that Europe is stepping up” in response to “great changes” in global order, calling for the bloc to rapidly press ahead with “concrete steps” on defence.
She said that Europe should be able to defend itself “within three to five years,” with the primary and “credible” threat coming from Russia.
In particular, she urged countries “a bit further away” from Russia to listen and follow the lead of what she called “the front states” with “historical experience with Russia, negative in all countries.”
Frederiksen also asserted that “only Ukraine can determine Ukraine’s future,” as she rejected Moscow’s plans to “decide who should be members of the EU, who should be members of Nato,” saying that view “cannot be accepted under any circumstances” and would mean Europe “lost.”
She also pointed out that Putin “could stop the war now,” if he wanted, as it remains the sole aggressor in the conflict.
“There was a conversation between president Trump and president Putin, and what do the Russians do after that? They bomb Ukraine. That is a strange way for Russia to make peace,” she said.
Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen walks to attend a European Union summit in Brussels. Photograph: Yves Herman/ReutersShare
Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa said on arrival that “Ukraine remains our top priority,” as she wanted to hear more from the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on the executive’s plans for rearming Europe.
She said Latvia was “supporting” the EU’s intention to boost the bloc’s defence preparedness, but said it was “just one, first step.”
She also spoke about the need to “take away bureaucractic burden” away from companies to help member states arm faster to face the growing Russian threat.
Siliņa also commented on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s phone call with Donald Trump, saying that she thought it was “going well, and they have negotiated very well.”
She also called out some European countries for “not doing their homework” on defence spending, as they continue to spend below the Nato 2% target.
Latvia’s prime minister Evika Silina walks as she attends a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/ReutersShare
Updated at 05.17 EDT
Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof is one of the first European leaders to arrive at the European Council summit.
In a (very) extensive Q&A with the Dutch media he was mostly asked about the defence spending and funding issues, as well as whether he trusts Vladimir Putin on any future ceasefire.
He said the Russian president “has shown his intentions” with the war on Ukraine, and stressed the need for “very firm” peace agreement that could be enforced.
He also rejected Russia’s demand that Europe stop offering military aid to Ukraine, saying it was “not an option,” and pointing to on-going talks between Europe, the UK, Canada and Turkey about a broader role they can play in Ukraine.
Asked again about the funding element of the package in English, he said that the Netherlands was supporting EU proposals and remained “constructive”, but continued to stress that “sustainable debt is important,” which is why it keeps opposing eurobonds.
He also hinted at the Dutch interest in “direct investment in the Ukrainian defence industry” to use its capacity and speed up the ammunition production in Ukraine.
Netherland’s prime minister Dick Schoof arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. Photograph: Omar Havana/APShare
Updated at 05.17 EDT
Russian air attacks on Ukraine continue, with two reported dead and dozens injuredPlumes of smoke rise from a strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Region, Ukraine, in this screengrab obtained from social media video. Photograph: Social Media/Reuters
Ukraine reported 171 Russian drone attacks overnight, of which its air defence systems shot 71 down, and 63 were downed by electronic jamming systems or were lost, AFP said.
Russian attacks reportedly killed two people in Sumy and Kharkiv regions, with “several others” wounded after attacks in the border regions. A separate attack in the city of Kropyvnytskyi wounded 10, including four children, Reuters said.
Russia meanwhile said its air defence units had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones in several regions across the country.
ShareEU summit about ‘finalising first stage of perhaps most important European project in decades,’ Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk spoke with reporters in Warsaw early morning, before leaving for Brussels, saying the EU summit will be about “finalising the first stage of perhaps the most important European project in last decades: making Europe safe, armed, and united against the Russian threat.”
“You may remember how oftentimes we were alone in warning other European partners against the Russian threat … and now are about to see Europe unite around the very same problem that often saw Poland stand alone,” he said.
Tusk also urged Poland’s president Andrzej Duda to sign into law the bill on migration and asylum law changes, giving the government’s the right to temporarily suspend asylum applications from irregular migrants.
He said the move was needed to counter “the pressure on our border with Belarus … which is growing” as he accused Alexander Lukashenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin of encouraging irregular migration to put pressure on the EU’s external borders, waging “a de facto war – they call it hybrid [war], but it’s something more serious than hybrid war” against Poland.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk pictured at a European Union leaders special summit to discuss Ukraine and European defence in Brussels earlier this month. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/ReutersShare‘That was Macron, I will call him back,’ Zelenskyy briefs journalists on ‘fruitful, perhaps most fruitful we had’ conversation with Trump
Shaun Walker
in Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks on, during a joint press conference with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, at the Presidential Palace, in Helsinki, Finland. Photograph: Heikki Saukkomaa/AP
In a Zoom call with journalists late on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he had “felt no pressure” from Trump, adding: “It was a fruitful conversation, perhaps the most fruitful we have had, the mood was positive.
“We have received signals from the United States that we are talking about the ceasefire on energy facilities, so not to attack energy infrastructure, and we are also talking about the civilian infrastructure facilities.”
Zelenskyy said his team would draw up a list of the kind of facilities they felt could be included and would present them to the Americans at upcoming negotiations.
The Ukrainian leader also said that he and Trump had discussed the US proposal to take ownership of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south Ukraine.
“We talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation,” he said.
In a sign that European leaders are closely watching the discussions between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy, the Ukraine president answered a phone call while speaking with reporters on Wednesday evening and promised to call back.
Returning to the briefing, he said: “That was President Macron, we have a conversation on average once a day, he’s helping a lot. I will call him back.”
ShareMorning opening: Europe rallies to support Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
It’s another busy day in European diplomacy.
European leaders are meeting in Brussels this morning to discuss Ukraine, Middle East, competitiveness, and European defence, building on a recent extraordinary summit.
Dangling the carrot of multibillion investment in European industries, António Costa, European Council president, wrote to leaders:
Our continued support to Ukraine, the need to invest in our defence and our competitiveness are closely interlinked. A more competitive Union will be a stronger Union, better able to protect its citizens, its interests and its values on the global stage.
In the course of the morning, the leaders will here from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, getting an unfiltered view of his phone call with US president Donald Trump.
In particular, they will be probably keen to hear more about the plans for a limited – but gradually expanding, if possible – ceasefire, and Trump’s unusual promise to “work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe” to support Ukrainian air defence, which could be seen as an indirect rejection of the Russian demand to stop arming Ukraine.
Over lunch, they will also speak with UN secretary general António Guterres; ECB president Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup president Paschal Donohoe will also join for a bit.
Their talks are likely to go into late evening, but our attention will shift to Britain in late afternoon, as UK prime minister Keir Starmer hosts over 30 army chiefs and planners to discuss his plans for the “coalition of the willing”.
We should hear from him at some point, too, but in a show of just how serious he is about defence, he made a rare visit to a nuclear-armed submarine HMS Vanguard – a first such visit by a serving prime minister in more than a decade.
But his coalition faces a challenge even before it came into existence as Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has made clear he wouldn’t accept western military aid flowing to Ukraine and Nato forces on Ukrainian soil under any peace settlement. Despite this, there are no signs that his words in any way affected the continuing planning. Ultimately, that’s what “peace through strength” is meant to be about.
Lots to cover – starting from European leaders’ arrivals in Brussels in the next hour or so. I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Thursday, 20 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.
Updated at 03.52 EDT