EU Abandons €40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package After Trump’s Ceasefire Push

European leaders cancel massive military aid to Ukraine following Trump’s diplomatic efforts to end the conflict through negotiations with Russia.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The European Union has officially abandoned its plan to send €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine following recent diplomatic efforts by President Donald Trump to broker a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow. The decision to scrap the aid package was finalized during an EU summit on Thursday, just one day after Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and two days after his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The plan, known as the Kallas plan, named after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, proposed a major expansion of European military assistance to Ukraine in 2025. It included €5 billion for two million artillery rounds and €35 billion for air defense systems, drones, fighter jets, and other military equipment. These deliveries were originally slated to be completed by the end of the year.

However, resistance from several major EU member states, including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Slovakia, ultimately led to the plan’s demise. According to The European Conservative, southern European nations opposed Kallas’ proposal that aid contributions be calculated based on each country’s GDP, instead suggesting alternative funding methods, such as using profits from frozen Russian assets.

“France, Italy and Spain—boasting the largest European economies after Germany—all gave economic and budgetary reasons for not backing the plan this time,” The European Conservative reported. These nations also cautioned against military escalation and preferred to wait for the outcome of Trump’s ongoing peace efforts, which have been a central focus of his foreign policy agenda since his return to office.

Despite support from several northern EU countries, the opposition led to a delay and subsequent cancellation of the €40 billion proposal. A smaller aid package will proceed, focusing solely on delivering the promised two million artillery rounds. However, The European Conservative noted that even this limited goal “could prove tricky,” given the EU’s previous failure to deliver half that amount in 2023.

The timing of the EU’s decision coincided with a significant escalation in the conflict, as a Ukrainian drone struck a Russian nuclear bomb base on Thursday, a day after Trump’s call with Zelensky. Trump had previously described the ceasefire negotiations with Russia as a “done-deal”, but the Ukrainian strike marked a major challenge to the de-escalation process.

The European Conservative concluded that EU leaders may now be reevaluating the effectiveness of continued arms deliveries. “It seems E.U. countries are starting to realize that prolonging the war with endless weapon deliveries may not be the best way forward and that, despite all their criticism, Trump’s diplomatic approach is delivering better than they had expected.”