Forty European states sign security declaration as EU weighs 45 billion euros for Kyiv

Roughly forty European states signed a declaration in Dublin committing them to decide questions of European security jointly with European governments, as EU leaders pressed for a seat at US-mediated talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron initiated the declaration and told the summit that around forty European countries had for the first time agreed common principles for Europe's future security. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set out the demand behind it, saying that "Ukraine must sit at the table, the Europeans must sit at the table" and that the Americans and Russia must do so as well.

The meeting gained momentum when US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew in from Moscow and landed at a military airport in Dublin late in the evening to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the "very welcome news" was that the United States, Europe and Ukraine were "completely on the same line" on the issue.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pressed the questions she called vital for Ukraine's survival through the winter. The EU pledged a further 500 generators and 200 buses for this war winter, and is preparing a 22nd sanctions package against Russia, she said. The Commission is also drafting a proposal on how Ukraine's financing needs for 2027 can be covered.

Merz said Germany is already the largest bilateral supporter of Ukraine, and that new EU money of 45 billion euros for next year would require every member state to look deeper into partly very empty national coffers. "It is a matter of course for me that this is a common European task," he said, adding that the 2027 financing gap must be closed quickly and that "these will be difficult negotiations." He warned that a failure to reach broad agreement would bode ill for talks on the next EU budget, to which Germany is also the largest contributor.

The approach — which some governments call blackmail — drew support from Latvian Prime Minister [VERIFY NAME], who called it "an excellent strategy." Countries that want to reach a budget target but do not take part in supporting Ukraine are not pursuing a common approach to European security, he said: "That is why I support it."

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin intends to continue talks on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump at an APEC summit in China at the end of this month.