Von der Leyen: Europe Must Turn Ukraine into a “Steel Porcupine”

European Commission chief urged to “put Ukraine in a position of strength”. Europe must take responsibility for self-defense, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told an emergency summit in London, euronews.com reported. The UK held the summit to show unbreakable support for the Ukrainian president after the US president’s Oval Office conflict with Volodymyr Zelensky. As analysts note, what happened on Friday raises doubts about whether Europe has loyal allies across the ocean. Earlier on Sunday, Keir Starmer said Britain, France and Ukraine had agreed to work on a ceasefire plan, which they would then present to the United States. On the same day, the British prime minister announced that his country would spend £1.6bn (€1.9bn) to fund the delivery of 5,000 air defense missiles. At the same time, Starmer noted that his call for European allies to increase spending on arms and on Ukraine’s defense should not be taken as a sign that the USA is no longer “a reliable ally”. Volodymyr Zelensky and Keir Starmer also signed a £2.26bn (almost €2.74bn) loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defense capabilities. It will reportedly be repaid with proceeds from frozen Russian assets. “The money will be used to produce weapons in Ukraine”, the Ukrainian president wrote in Telegram, expressing “gratitude to the people and government of the United Kingdom”. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also said that it was necessary to “urgently rearm Europe” and “put Ukraine to a position of strength”, turning it into a “steel porcupine”. In turn, the NATO Secretary General welcomed the fact that more and more European countries are “increasing their defense budgets”. Mark Rutte called this “very good news” because, he said, “there is a need to optimize the balance of budgets with the United States”. Giorgia Meloni has said in London that she wants to “prevent a split” in the West. The Italian prime minister called for unity in the face of the Ukrainian conflict. The French President spoke in favor of “calm and respect” in international relations.