Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s first Defence Commissioner. Photo: J. Stacevičius / LRT
The European Union is considering a significant increase in military support for Ukraine if US President Donald Trump does not convince Vladimir Putin to agree to peace agreements in the war against Ukraine. This was stated by European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius in a post on the X platform (Twitter), Timeukraineisrael reports.
“If Trump doesn’t convince Putin to make peace, we can very quickly put forward more convincing arguments – by significantly increasing military support for Ukraine,” he stressed.
According to Kubilius, the EU and the US currently allocate about €40 billion a year to help the Armed Forces, but this spending could be made more efficient.
“We can buy modern weapons directly in Ukraine – it will be twice as cheap as imports from Europe or the US. This means doubling the number of weapons for the same amount of money,” the European Commissioner explained.
Thus, actual military support will increase to 80 billion euros, which will significantly change the balance on the battlefield.
Kubilius also explained where the EU will get the money from: new loans under SAFE, the EU’s defence initiative, allow member states to increase support without incurring additional budgetary risks.
“This is how the formula ‘peace through strength’ can work in practice. SAFE means strength for Ukraine,” he concluded.
