‘No more excuses’: Europe under pressure on defence spending three years after Russian invasion

Nato forces face a great deal of uncertainty now the US president has threatened to overturn longstanding security guarantees. Photograph: Daniel Mihăilescu/AFP/Getty Images

A few days after Vladimir Putin sent Russia’s invading forces into Ukraine in February 2022, the EU’s then foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, asked his staff for an urgent military aid plan. They came up with €50m (£41.4m) to help Ukraine.

“And I said: ‘Are you crazy? We are talking about a war,’” Borrell recounted in late 2024, shortly before standing down. “Do you know what does it mean, a war? Put three zeros behind! … And then we started taking things seriously.”