On the eve of the meeting of NATO and of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, European defence ministers will be meeting on Wednesday to discuss military support for Ukraine. European military support since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amounts to €70 billion. “It must continue, at European and bilateral level”, stressed a senior European official, on Monday 9 February.
Ministers will discuss strengthening cooperation with Ukraine in the field of defence innovation, including with the new Ukrainian Defence Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. This applies in particular to the drone sector. Ministers will discuss ways to ensure the rapid delivery of the equipment most needed by Kyiv to defend itself.
EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, will present the Council with new options for financing Ukrainian defence, by mobilising private funds with the support of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Pointing out that the EIB had increased its financing for the defence and dual-use goods sector in 2025 (see EUROPE 13797/22), the senior official said that the High Representative wanted to see if it was “possible to go even further by supporting co-production between Ukrainian and European companies and to see how to encourage private banks to invest in this area”. The Council could also revisit the €90 billion loan currently being adopted at EU level.
Finally, ministers will discuss the security guarantees that the EU could provide to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, including through its advisory mission to the Ukrainian internal security forces (EUAM) and military assistance mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM). According to a senior official, Kaja Kallas is exploring options for military training infrastructure, including the modernisation of training centres in Central and Eastern Europe. Ministers will also consider how the EU could support ceasefire monitoring.
At the Council, ministers are also expected to adopt, without discussion, each country’s national plans under the ‘SAFE’ instrument for the first eight Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Portugal and Romania (see other news).
Ministers will then have dinner to discuss the ‘outlook for 2026’, as their foreign affairs counterparts did at the end of January. Ministers will have an informal discussion on the geopolitical situation and the EU’s actions to strengthen its defence and security. The future European security strategy could be discussed on this occasion, as could the tensions surrounding Greenland. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)