‘We are not alone’: Zelensky thanks Europe at crisis summit

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Volodymyr Zelensky thanked EU leaders on Thursday for standing by Ukraine´s side, as the bloc held crisis talks on confronting US President Donald Trump´s pivot away from Kyiv and its transatlantic partners.

Thursday´s European summit comes a week after a White House blow-up between Trump and Zelensky led Washington to cut the military aid and intelligence sharing that has helped Kyiv fight off Russia´s invasion.

“We are very thankful that we are not alone. And these are not just words,” the Ukrainian president said as the Brussels meeting kicked off, standing alongside EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa.

With America´s long-term commitment to Europe´s security now in doubt, the bloc faces immense pressure to rise to the moment. Already this week, Germany´s likely next leader pledged a historical U-turn on defence.

Von der Leyen, who has laid out a plan aimed at mobilising 800 billion euros to “re-arm Europe” faced with the threat from Russia, called it “a watershed moment” for the continent.“Europe faces a clear and present danger, and therefore Europe has to be able to protect itself,” the European Commission chief told reporters.

“It´s also a watershed moment for Ukraine,” she said. “We have to put Ukraine in a position to protect itself and to push for a lasting and just peace.”In a sombre national address on the summit´s eve, France´s President Emmanuel Macron called for a defence spending surge and said he would discuss extending France´s nuclear deterrent to European partners -- an idea swiftly welcomed by key eastern power Poland.

“Who can believe that this Russia of today will stop at Ukraine?” Macron asked. “I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side, but we have to be prepared for that not to be the case.”

Germany´s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz, who conferred with EU chiefs in Brussels ahead of the talks, has declared himself ready for “the worst-case scenario” and embraced radical reforms to pump up German defence spending.

Meanwhile, Russia said on Thursday it would not accept a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, rejecting proposals of a one-month halt in fighting or a stop in aerial and naval attacks -- ideas floated by Ukraine´s Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Talk of a possible truce is at fever pitch with US President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the conflict and having halted the supply of arms and intelligence to Ukraine, hobbling its capacity to fight off the Russian offensive.

Russia will seek a peace deal in Ukraine that safeguards its own long-term security and will not retreat from the gains it has made in the conflict, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday in comments to relatives of soldiers killed there.

“We must choose for ourselves a peace option that will suit us and that will ensure peace for our country in the long term,” Putin told a group of Russian women who have lost loved ones during the three-year war in Ukraine.