France is pushing to stop Ukraine from buying American weapons with a €90bn (£78bn) EU loan. It wants the portion of the fund earmarked for weapons to be spent only in the European defence industry.

Yet the EU wants Ukraine to keep fighting, approving on Dec. 19 a $105 billion loan to Ukraine, a mistaken fear for all of Europe’s safety, the core motivator. As Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk put it: "Now we have a simple choice: either money today or blood tomorrow. And I'm not talking about Ukraine only, I'm talking about Europe.”

It came after Russia launched its heaviest air attack of 2026, killing four in strikes targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the agreements were “a signal of how seriously Europe and the entire coalition of the willing are ready to work for real security.”

A nuclear-capable missile fired into Ukraine near Poland sent a message to Europe days after its leaders agreed to postwar security guarantees, Russian analysts said.

The virtual meeting included European leaders as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, heads of European institutions and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

An explicit commitment that Washington would backstop Kyiv was scrapped in the leaders’ final joint statement.

Europe needs a strong bulwark against Russian aggression, but building and maintaining it will be challenging.

Britain and France firmed up a postwar troop commitment in Ukraine, though Russia has said it will reject any deal that allows NATO-country forces in Ukraine.

Even as France and the UK offer a written commitment to Ukraine to deploy troops in the event of a peace deal, doubts remain whether the US will back those troops in case they come under a Russian attack.

In her first official visit of the year, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas travelled to Berlin on Tuesday to meet German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius at the German defence ministry. Kallas was welcomed with military honours and a wreath-laying ceremony before she and Pistorius discussed continued financial and military support for Ukraine,