Live updates: EU leaders hold emergency summit on defense, Ukraine aid

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte — who fears that Russia’s armed forces might be capable of launching an attack on another European country by the end of the decade — has warned that U.S. allies will have to spend more than 3% of gross domestic product on their military budgets.

The Trump administration is demanding that the Europeans spend as much as 5%, well beyond the NATO benchmark of at least 2%. Seven European allies still fall short of even that target. The U.S. spends around 3.4%, according to NATO figures, and a Pentagon audit that could reduce that is pending.

Von der Leyen has proposed that the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, raise up to 150 billion euros ($161 billion) on financial markets that would be loaned to member countries to buy new military equipment for themselves, or to send to Ukraine.

The leaders will also discuss whether to place more arms contracts with Ukraine’s defense industry, and to help integrate it into the European industrial network. Production costs in Ukraine are much lower, providing a relatively fast way to supply more arms and ammunition.

It’s an approach that Zelenskyy has praised.