U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with his counterpart from the United Kingdom, John Healey, on a day when European Union leaders have backed new defense spending plans aimed at freeing up billions of euros for the continent’s security.
Watch the meeting in the player above.
The move in Europe comes after the Trump administration signaled that Europe would have to fend for itself in future.
In just over a month, President Donald Trump has overturned old certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner, as he embraces Russia and withdraws American support for Ukraine.
READ MORE: EU leaders hold emergency summit on Ukraine aid and their own security as U.S. support wanes
On Monday, Trump ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia, bringing fresh urgency to the EU summit in Brussels.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Hegseth said Trump has decided to pursue “a pause for now.”
“The president will is paying a very keen eye to precisely what the Ukrainians are saying and doing about committing to that peace process,” Hegseth said. “And we’re very encouraged by the signs we’re seeing. Ultimately, he will make the determination, but it is a pause for now.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, the 27 EU leaders signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so that willing EU countries can increase their military spending. They also urged the European Commission to explore new ways “to facilitate significant defense spending at national level in all Member States,” a statement said.
The EU’s executive branch estimates that around 650 billion euros ($702 billion) could be freed up in this way.
The leaders also took note of a commission offer of a loan package worth 150 billion euros ($162 billion) to buy new military equipment and invited EU headquarters staff “to examine this proposal as a matter of urgency.”
Healy told Hegseth that the U.K. is ready to take a leadership role regarding European security.
“You challenged us to step up on Ukraine, on defense spending, on European security,” Healey said. “And I say to you that we we have we are and we will further,” he said. “And last week, the British prime minister announced the biggest increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War, and we will go further.”
Zelenskyy welcomed the EU’s plan Thursday and expressed hopes that some of it could be used to bolster Ukraine’s own defense industry, which can produce weapons more cheaply than elsewhere in Europe and closer to the battlefields where they are needed.
