Skip next section WATCH: US policy realignment forces Europe to rethink defenseMarch 7, 2025
WATCH: US policy realignment forces Europe to rethink defenseAt a crisis gathering in Brussels, European leaders have discussed plans to shore up their countries’ defense capabilities while continuing to support Ukraine in its fight against a full-scale Russian invasion.
Fears are growing in Europe that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, might decide to attack EU countries as the US under President Donald Trump gives signals that it is losing interest in upholding the Western solidarity that has prevailed since the end of World War II.
Watch DW’s report on the Brussels meeting.
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Skip next section EU cannot afford to finance Ukraine, says Hungary’s OrbanMarch 7, 2025
EU cannot afford to finance Ukraine, says Hungary’s OrbanThe European Union would be “ruined” if it continued to finance military aid to Ukraine without US support, which is no longer guaranteed, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
Orban is an admirer of US President Donald Trump who has also maintained close relations with Russia despite its invasion of its neighbor.
The Hungarian leader’s remarks came after the leaders of the EU’s other 26 countries signed a statement of support for Ukraine.
“If now the US quits (financing the war) … why would the other 26 member states have a chance to take this war to the end?” Orban told state radio. “Today it appears that I have vetoed. But within weeks they will come back and it will turn out that there is no money for these goals.”
He told state radio that his government would launch a “public consultation” in Hungary in the coming weeks on Ukraine’s mooted EU accession.
Orban has often been a thorn in the side of his EU partners since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022, frequently criticizing actions taken by the bloc to support Ukraine and deter Russia.
https://p.dw.com/p/4rUHb
Skip next section Ukraine says energy infrastructure under ‘massive’ attack by RussiaMarch 7, 2025
Ukraine says energy infrastructure under ‘massive’ attack by RussiaUkraine’s energy infrastructure came “under massive missile and drone shelling” by Russia, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a post on Facebook, adding that Russia was once again trying to punish civilians.
“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by shelling energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without power and heating, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” he said.
In the last three years of war, both countries have targeted each other’s energy facilities.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv city Mayor Igor Terekhov said in a Telegram post that four people were wounded in a strike on “civilian infrastructure.”
On Thursday, Ukraine’s emergency service had also said that “critical” infrastructure had been damaged in an attack on the Odesa region.
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Skip next section China calls for ‘fair, lasting’ peace in UkraineMarch 7, 2025
China calls for ‘fair, lasting’ peace in UkraineChina hopes to achieve a “fair, lasting and binding peace agreement” that would be acceptable to all parties in the Ukraine war, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
He was speaking at an annual press conference on the sidelines of the parliamentary sessions.
“China is willing to cooperate with the international community in accordance with the wishes of relevant parties to achieve a final resolution of the crisis and lasting peace, and will continue to play a constructive role,” he said.
European countries have called on China to use its economic leverage over Russia to press for an end to the war, but Beijing has refused to criticize its partner or cut itseconomic support of Moscow.
https://p.dw.com/p/4rUBy
Skip next section What would it cost Europe to defend itself without US help?March 7, 2025
What would it cost Europe to defend itself without US help?Dirk Kaufmann
Donald Trump’s controversial initiative to end the war in Ukraine — trying to force Ukraine into negotiating a peace deal with Russia without committing to providing security guarantees for Kyiv — has also reignited the longstanding issue of how Europe can fend for itself. What would that mean in economic and financial terms?
Read DW’s analysis here.
https://p.dw.com/p/4rU9q
Skip next section Trump casts doubt on NATO’s mutual defense pactMarch 7, 2025
Trump casts doubt on NATO’s mutual defense pactPresident Trump on Thursday again brought up his complaint that US allies in NATO do not spend enough of their budgets on defense, a common line from his first term in office.
“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
His previous threats encouraged more spending from European partners, but this time around even that appears to not be enough.
Trump also questioned whether NATO member France or a “couple of others” would receive US support if attacked, in line with Article 5 of the alliance.
France has encouraged itsEuropean neighbors to be less reliant on the US for its own security.
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to Trump’s comments by pointing out how European allies, including France, had joined the US invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.
“We are loyal and faithful allies,” Macron said.
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Skip next section What would a ‘Sky Shield’ for Ukraine look like? DW talks to defense analystMarch 7, 2025
What would a ‘Sky Shield’ for Ukraine look like? DW talks to defense analystPhil Gayle
Europe could deploy a fleet of 120 fighter jets to secure Ukraine’s skies over Kyiv and western Ukraine to protect towns and cities from Russian air strikes.
Proponents of the defense plan, called “Sky Shield,” argue that the plan would be a European-led air protection zone operated separately from NATO.
“It is reactive at the moment but it does threaten a hot war (with Russia), particularly if the US, as we suspect it might, turns its back on Europe because it becomes fascinated by the Chinese problems that it sees coming along the road, and Europe has to look to itself,” Stuart Crawford, a former army officer and a defense analyst, told DW.
Watch the full conversation here.
https://p.dw.com/p/4rU9p
Skip next section Zelenksyy says US-Ukraine talks to take place in Saudi Arabia next weekMarch 7, 2025
Zelenksyy says US-Ukraine talks to take place in Saudi Arabia next weekUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would meet with the Saudi Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia next Monday. He added that his team would stay on for talks with American partners to end the war in Ukraine.
“Next Monday, I have a visit planned to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with the Crown Prince. After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners. Ukraine is most interested in peace,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, emphasizing Ukraine’s commitment to achieve “swift and reliable peace.”
The White House also confirmed the meeting but said details were still under discussion.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who also plays a leading role in Ukraine talks, said the talks will likely happen in Riyadh or Jeddah.
“I think the larger discussion for us… is to get a peace deal done,” he said.
This comes days after Trump and Zelenskyy’s televised blow-up in the Oval Office over security guarantees, among other things.
The meeting next week appears to be a careful step in retesting relations between the two allies without the involvement of either president.
Zelenskyy later wrote a letter to Trump in which he provided specifics on what the first stage of a peace process could look like, which the US president called a “very positive first step.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4rU7q
Skip next section Welcome to our coverageMarch 7, 2025
Welcome to our coverageMore than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European powers and the US appear to have different approaches toward peace in Ukraine.
EU leaders agreed on Thursday to boost the bloc’s defenses at a crisis summit. The bloc endorsed the European Commission’s plan to mobilize €800 billion ($860 billion) for defense spending and committed to examine a proposal to provide members with EU-backed loans of up to €150 billion “as a matter of urgency.”
Ukrainian and European leaders strongly maintain that theUS remains an integral part of securing peace in Ukraine. But there is a growing sense of need for the European continent to be less dependent on Washington for its security.
https://p.dw.com/p/4rU6p
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