Ukraine war latest: Trump military aid cut to hit frontline ‘within days’

New European Union investment in the defence industry should take the form of grants not loans, Poland’s defence minister said on Tuesday, after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels could mobilise close to 800 billion euros.

“I would like this not to be loans but grants,” Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference. “I believe that would be more effective.”

Ukraine’s prime minister said that budget revenues in January-February were in line with expectations, allowing it to fund army needs.

Denys Shmyhal told reporters that Ukraine had sufficient liquidity for this year under current conditions.

Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, has said the US decision to pause military aid could start having an impact on the ground as soon as “in the coming days”.

“When we are in desperate need of American weaponry, of American support… [it] looks like siding with Russia” to end it now, Mr Merezhko Told the BBC.

“I’m appealing to Mr Trump not to play with these dangerous issues because we’re talking about lives.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plans to raise defence funds as “an important first step”.

“Two things are now essential for peace through strength: additional aid – military and financial – for Ukraine, which is defending our freedom. And a quantum leap to strengthen our EU defence,” Baerbock said on X.

European Union leaders will discuss on Thursday how to finance a sharp increase in defence readiness to deter any possible future attack from Russia and become less dependent for security on the United States.

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed several ways to raise the funds that would add up to around 800 billion euros over several years.

But how can they do this?

The Commission proposed that defence spending be exempt from EU laws that put annual spending limits on governments to protect EU public finances and the value of the euro currency.

Not all EU governments support the idea, as they say special treatment for defence spending already exists in the rules. What is missing, they say, is a broader definition of defence investment, an issue they would prefer to focus on.

The Commission estimated that if EU governments were to increase their defence spending by 1.5% of GDP on average, it would create fiscal space of close to 650 billion euros over four years. The downside is that such borrowing would widen budget deficits and could worry bond investors, economists said.

Money from the EU’s 2021-2027 budget

The current seven-year EU budget of 1.2 trillion euros, created well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has no proper funds for defence.

But around one-third of it is earmarked to equalise the standard of living between regions in the 27-nation EU – the so-called cohesion funds – and some of that cash can be used for projects that would be somehow linked to defence, like shelters for civilians or strengthening roads and bridges to allow the passage of tanks.

“We will propose additional possibilities and incentives for Member States that they will decide, if they want to use cohesion policy programmes, to increase defence spending,” the Commission said.

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has insisted Kyiv has the resources to maintain the frontline following the suspension of US military aid.

He added Ukraine will continue diplomatic work with the US, and it remains ready to sign a minerals deal.

Mr Shmyhal said US military aid is critical to Ukraine.

The US decision to suspend delivery of ammunition and other equipment to Kyiv is a “serious setback” towards achieving peace, the Irish premier has said.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who is due to meet Mr Trump in Washington DC next week, said on Tuesday: “It’s a very serious development, there’s no point in saying anything else.”

He said there needs to be continued engagement between EU leaders and the US to do everything possible for a peace that protects “Ukrainian sovereignty and its territorial integrity”.

He added: “It will not be easy. It’s been three years on now, this war, it has exacted a very heavy toll on a lot of people, and particularly on the people of Ukraine, who have shown extraordinary resilience, extraordinary courage in terms of meeting an illegal invasion.

“Europe is very conscious, also, of the fact that there are many other states across Europe who fear Russian aggression and Russian ambition, and those countries see this as an existential threat to their sovereignty.

“The European Union is very, very conscious of that, and that is what is motivating the European Union in its continued strong support of Ukraine, because this is a broader European issue.”

A sovereign, pro-western Ukraine which can defend itself, means a stronger and safer Poland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said.

Mr Tusk’s comments after United States President Donald Trump decided to pause aid to Ukraine.

“In the political turmoil and growing chaos, this is what counts most. Whoever questions this obvious truth contributes to Putin’s triumph,” Tusk wrote on X.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said in a letter to EU member states that 150 billion euros in new loans for defence investments will be backed by the EU’s budget.

Von der Leyen has announced new EU plans to strengthen Europe’s defence industry and increase military capabilities could mobilize close to 800 billion euros.

It comes as Europe looks to up its defence spending after president Donald Trump announced the US will be suspending all military aid to Ukraine.

For context, almost half of the £103bn in military support sent to Ukraine by its allies has come from the US, according to estimates by the Kiel Institute. That figure is a little over £51bn.