EU leaders in Paris: Strengthening defense, rejecting 'Minsk,' supporting Ukraine

An EU official familiar with the discussions shared these conclusions with aт Ukrinform correspondent.

According to the official, the participants agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump's approach of "peace through strength." They believed that declaring a ceasefire without a simultaneous peace agreement would be dangerous, citing lessons from the Minsk agreements. Additionally, they expressed readiness to provide security guarantees, with each party involved expected to determine the specifics based on the level of U.S. support.

The EU official also stated that the meeting participants were prepared to increase their defense budgets both individually and within the EU framework. This step aimed to better share the security burden with the United States.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, U.S. officials had urged Europe to significantly boost defense spending and take greater responsibility for its own security -- including providing security guarantees for Ukraine -- during last week's NATO defense ministers' meeting and the Munich Security Conference.

Following the discussions in Munich, an emergency informal meeting took place in Paris, bringing together European leaders, top EU officials, and NATO representatives to deliberate on continued support for Ukraine and measures to strengthen European security.