LORNE COOK

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, arrives for a round table meeting at an EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Takeaways from the EU’s landmark security summit after Trump said Europe must fend for itself
European Union leaders are trumpeting their endorsement of a plan to free up hundreds of billions of euros to inject into their defense budgets.
 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second right, greets Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a round table meeting at an EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
EU leaders commit to working together after Trump signals that Europe must defend itself
European Union leaders committed to working together to bolster the continent’s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security. The agreement emerged Thursday after U.S.
 
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference on the defense package at EU headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
EU leaders to hold emergency Ukraine talks, seeking to adapt to new security demands without the US
European Union leaders plan to hold emergency talks to agree ways to quickly increase their military budgets after the Trump administration signaled Europe must take care of its own security and also suspended assistance to Ukraine.
 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hands over the flag of a military unit on the occasion of the Air Forces Day against the background of Ukraine's Air Force's F-16 fighter jets in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
The EU beat COVID and ditched Russian energy. Now it must learn to live without US security help
The European Union is getting good at adapting to unprecedented circumstances. Over the last five years, the 27 member countries have pulled together to fund the purchase of tens of millions of vaccines and devised a massive recovery fund to resuscitate economies ravaged by the pandemic.
 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, not shown, at the State Department, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).
High-level EU-US diplomatic talks are called off as transatlantic tensions rise
A planned meeting between European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has abruptly canceled due to “scheduling issues.” It comes as political tensions have increased between Europe and the United States.
 
Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan speaks during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
Israel refuses entry to 2 EU lawmakers and accuses 1 of promoting boycotts of it
Israel has denied entry to two European Union lawmakers. It accuses one of them, Rima Hassan, of promoting boycotts of Israel. No reasons were immediately given for denying entry to European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation chair Lynn Boylan.
 
The cargo ship Laodicea sails through the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 7, 2022. An Associated Press investigation showed that the ship, owned by the Syrian government, was part of an extensive Russian-run smuggling operation that has been hauling stolen Ukrainian grain from ports in occupied Crimea to customers in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Yoruk Isik, File)
EU envoys approve more sanctions against Russia to mark the third anniversary of its war on Ukraine
European Union envoys have approved new sanctions against Russia, with the measures set to enter into force next week on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The move comes with the Europeans sidelined from U.S.
 
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and other dignitaries, attend an international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Normandy. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Europe quietly works on a plan to send troops to Ukraine for post-war security
Increasingly alarmed that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere, a group of European countries has been working on a plan to send troops to Ukraine to help enforce any future peace settlement with Russia.
 
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, front left, and Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey, front second left, pose with other ministers during a group photo of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
NATO is in disarray after the US announces that its security priorities lie elsewhere
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech on Ukraine this week has thrown NATO into disarray. It raised troubling questions about America’s commitment to European security.
 
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, speaks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher Cavoli during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in defense ministers format at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
NATO allies insist Ukraine and Europe must be in peace talks as Trump touts Putin meeting
Several NATO allies are insisting that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations, after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that he would hold talks soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.K.
 
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
US defense chief suggests Ukraine should abandon hope of winning all territory back from Russia
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says NATO membership for Ukraine is unrealistic. Speaking Wednesday to NATO allies, Hegseth also suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by internationa
 
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responds to a reporter's question before the start of a meeting with visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles at the Pentagon, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
NATO allies await US defense secretary’s visit, the first by a member of the Trump administration
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will become on Wednesday the first member of the new Trump administration to visit NATO. European allies and Canada are keen to understand how America now plans to influence the war in Ukraine.
 
The City Hall is seen damaged following Russian rocket attack that killed and injured a number of people in Izium, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Ukraine’s Western backers will meet for arms talks as doubts over US intentions grow
The main international forum for drumming up weapons and ammunition for Ukraine will for the first time meet under the auspices of a country other than the U.S. as uncertainty surrounds the future of Washington’s support for arming the war-torn country.
 
Air Defense Missile Group 24 begins moving the first two of three committed Patriot air defense missile squadrons from Germany to Poland in Gnoien, Germany, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (Bernd Wüstneck/dpa via AP, File)
An EU fund to help troops move quickly is too small and poorly managed, auditors say
Auditors say a European Union fund meant to help speed the deployment of troops and military equipment around the 27-nation bloc in times of conflict is too small and poorly managed to be effective.
 
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
EU leaders scramble to avoid friction with the US under Trump and avoid a ‘stupid tariff war’
European Union leaders are grappling with how to respond to the United States as it appears determined to start a trade war or even seize part of their territory. The leaders met on Monday for a defense summit.
 
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
EU cautiously agrees roadmap to ease sanctions on Syria in wake of Assad’s downfall
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, but insist that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.
 
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrives at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
NATO chief says Russian victory over Ukraine would have a costly impact on alliance’s credibility
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that a Russian victory over Ukraine would undermine the dissuasive force of the world’s biggest military alliance and could cost trillions of dollars to restore the organization’s credibility.
 
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrives to deliver his speech during the presentation of the programme of activities of the Polish Presidency, at the European Parliament, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)
EU needs to end its military dependency on the US and arm itself ‘to survive,’ says Tusk
The European Union cannot rely on the United States to defend it and must increase military spending and security preparedness to deter Russia from targeting more of its neighbors after Ukraine, senior officials have warned.
 
A Polish border guard looks east into Belarus at the crossing point Połowce-Pieszczatka in Polowce, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Lorne Cooke)
Poland wants the EU focused on security. Its border with Belarus highlights the challenges
Poland’s presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. The challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values are stark at Poland’s border with Belarus, Russia’s ally in its war on Ukraine.
 
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the two countries reached an agreement on a longstanding source of tensions between them: the exhumation of Polish victims of World War II-era massacres by Ukrainian nationalists, in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Polish leader vows to use EU presidency to speed up Ukraine’s membership quest
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to use his country’s presidency of the European Union to push forward with Ukraine’s membership quest.
 
Estonian naval ships sail in the Baltic Sea on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, as part of stepped-up NATO patrols in the region following suspected sabotage of undersea cables. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)
NATO announces a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region.
 
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)
EU’s executive branch denies cover up over the health of its president, Ursula von der Leyen
The European Commission is denying that it tried to cover up the state of health of its president, Ursula von der Leyen, who was hospitalized with severe pneumonia. Von der Leyen is the EU’s most high-profile political figure.
 
Finnish President Alexander Stubb meets with media to make comments on the Finland-Estonia electrical link Estlink cable disruption, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva via AP)
NATO will step up Baltic Sea patrols as Finland probes the possible sabotage of undersea cables
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.
 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, speaks with European Council President Antonio Costa as they arrive for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
EU leaders insist no decisions can be taken about Ukraine without Ukraine, or behind their backs
European Union leaders insist no decisions can be taken about the future of Ukraine without its consent or behind their backs.
 
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at the conclusion of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO leader says he wants to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any peace talks with Russia
NATO’s secretary-general said Wednesday that he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia. Mark Rutte was holding talks with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.
 
Georgian outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili delivers her speech at the European Parliament and appealed to the European Union to press her country's pro-Russia government to hold a new election amid a police crackdown on peaceful opposition protesters., Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)
Georgia’s outgoing president urges EU to use more leverage to back protesters
Georgia’s outgoing president wants the European Union to press her country’s pro-Russia government to hold a new election. The call by President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday came amid a police crackdown on peaceful opposition protesters.
 
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rings a bell to signify the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Dec 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
EU to suspend visas for Georgian officials over the security crackdown on opposition protestors
The European Union will impose visa restrictions on Georgian diplomats and government officials over the crackdown on opposition protesters demanding a rerun of October’s contested elections.
 
European Union foreign ministers pose with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, as she chairs her first meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Dec 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
EU seeks assurances from Syria’s new leaders in exchange for dropping sanctions
European Union nations have set out conditions for lifting sanctions on Syria. They want guarantees from Syria’s new leaders that they are preparing for a peaceful political future where extremism and former allies Russia and Iran can play no role.
 
A woman, one of some 258 people, including Syrians, Egyptians, Bangladeshi, and South Sudanese, saved from the sea in two different rescue operations on Friday is disembarked in Salerno, southern Italy, from the Doctors Without Borders search and rescue ship Geo Barents Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Paolo Santalucia, File)
EU nations agree a crackdown on migrant smugglers. Some fear it may target people trying to help
European Union countries have agreed a draft law aimed at preventing and countering migrant smuggling, which critics say could be abused to target people or charity groups that try to help migrants in trouble.
 
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at the conclusion of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO chief warns that Putin wants long-term confrontation with Europe after Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “wipe Ukraine off the map” and could come after other parts of Europe next.
 
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