The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, warned the United States against colluding with Russia at Ukraine's expense, as reported by Tengrinews.kz citing Deutsche Welle.
On Friday, she spoke at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).
"A weakened Ukraine will undermine Europe, but it will also weaken the United States," the EC head stated.
She urged U.S. President Donald Trump to collaborate with Europeans to achieve a "fair peace" for Ukraine.
Von der Leyen believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin must demonstrate before the planned talks with Trump that he truly does not wish to continue the war against Ukraine.
Additionally, the head of the European Commission announced her intention to open new opportunities for increasing defense spending. This will be accomplished by activating a special clause—the "general escape clause" in European debt rules, which allows EU countries to temporarily deviate from strict budget discipline in extreme situations and exceed the allowable government debt limit of three percent of GDP, as stipulated in the European Stability and Growth Pact.
This clause was, in particular, applied in practice in 2020 due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I will propose to activate this provision for investments in defense. This will allow EU member states to significantly increase their defense expenditures," she clarified.
According to DW, one of the reasons for von der Leyen's proposal is the U.S. statement that in the future, they intend to take on significantly less responsibility for security policy in Europe.
The demand for a substantial increase in defense spending comes from U.S. President Donald Trump, who would like European NATO members to spend five percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in the future. For Germany and many other countries, this means they will have to more than double this expenditure item.
Experts from the European Commission estimate that additional defense investments of around 500 billion euros will be needed over the next ten years. Among the likely new military projects for the EU are a European air defense system and enhanced security for the eastern land borders of the European Union.
It is worth noting that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking earlier at the MSC, accused the Trump administration of being unceremonious and violating established rules, partnerships, and trust.
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