EU leaders agree to strengthen European defence, Hungary opts out of Ukraine support

All EU leaders agreed to strengthen European defence, while Hungary opted out of statements in support of Ukraine at the end of a key summit in Brussels.

All 27 member states agreed on statements that endorsed a five-point initiative unveiled earlier this week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The plan contains initiatives to inject new cash into rearming the continent and bolster the bloc’s collective defence.

However, a declaration of continued support for Ukraine was only endorsed by 26 member states after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opted out of the joint EU conclusions.

Speaking to reporters late on Thursday evening, European Council President Antonio Costa defended the bloc’s unity, saying that “Hungary is isolated - 26 are more than one.”

The extraordinary summit was convened as a response to the US-Russia talks on Ukraine's future, which have so far excluded Ukraine and the EU. It also came almost a week after a public falling out between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House.

The summit was framed as a joint display of the EU's willingness to step up its efforts to support Ukraine and ensure the bloc’s strategic autonomy to defend itself in the long term.

Malta put its name to the conclusions

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela was among the EU leaders who endorsed both the Ukrainian text and the agreement to strengthen the bloc’s defence capabilities.

Despite earlier misgivings about the EU’s push to increase defence spending, which he said went counter to achieving peace in Ukraine, Abela finally put his name to the summit conclusions.

In comments he gave reporters on his way to the summit, Abela had said he “does not believe that investment in weapons, in tanks, in ammunition, can result in an end to the war”.

Abela had said EU leaders must recognise that Ukraine was the victim of unjust aggression by Russia, “but I cannot agree with increased investment in weapons to bring an end to the conflict.”

At the end of the day, Abela ditched these concerns and endorsed the conclusions about Ukraine and increased defence spending by the EU in line with what Von der Leyen had proposed earlier.

Zelenskyy to meet Amercian officials in Saudi Arabia

After meeting with EU leaders and the NATO Secretary-General on Thursday, President Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Saudi Arabia for talks next week, in a sign of a détente after relations between both sides came under severe strain following Zelenskyy and Trump's clash in the Oval Office last week.

Speaking after the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined the potential security guarantees discussed by leaders. They included the potential deployment of foreign troops as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, a prospect Italy’s Giorgia Meloni ruled out for Italian troops.