Brussels - Moscow: Europe and Arabs - Agencies
The European Union summit called for urgent intensification of efforts regarding the delivery of air defense systems, ammunition and missiles, and the provision of necessary training and equipment for Ukrainian brigades. Continuing to support and develop Ukraine's defense industry and deepening its cooperation with the European defense industry. And implementing the G7 initiative "exceptional loans"
According to the American magazine Politico in its European version, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held separate press conferences in Moscow and Brussels yesterday, Thursday, where they exchanged criticism and each presented completely different visions for the future of the war. The incoming US President Donald Trump was prominent in both discussions, while EU leaders in Brussels seemed united behind a three-dimensional strategy: flattering Trump, supporting Kiev, and not talking about the future.
In Moscow: Putin presented the annual televised question-and-answer session that lasted more than four hours. He claimed he was willing to meet Trump to discuss the war, and that he would be open to “dialogue” with Ukraine – but only on the basis of the current regional reality (which is unacceptable to Kiev).
No regrets: Does he regret launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022? No – Putin believes he should have done it sooner. “I did everything so that Russia could be an independent, sovereign state,” the optimistic Putin said in response to a question from the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, who listed a long list of the president’s failures, from high inflation to Ukraine’s counteroffensive at Kursk. My colleague Victor Jacques has an article here .
In Brussels: Zelensky, after meeting European leaders, criticised Putin for saying he wanted to have a high-tech mock duel with Western air defences by firing an Oreshnik ballistic missile at Kiev. “Do you think a sane person would say that?” Zelensky said. "For him [human life] doesn't matter... I think he's crazy, I think so. Really, I think he thinks he's crazy too. He loves killing."

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that NATO is preparing for war with Russia, but they are committed to avoiding direct confrontation with it, indicating that the United States' statements about the possibility of a limited exchange of nuclear strikes will lead to a global catastrophe, according to what Cairo News Channel reported in a breaking news report published by the Youm7 website.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on NATO member states to return to the levels of military spending that prevailed during the Cold War era to confront "escalating Russian threats."

Rutte stressed the need for a significant increase in defense budgets, following reports that the alliance "may set a new target for military spending of up to 3% of GDP by 2030," according to Politico magazine in its European version.
The NATO Secretary General also stressed that this money is necessary to revive the defense industry sector, "which suffers from a decline," in order to confront "Russian military threats," as he put it. He pointed out that "during the Cold War... Europeans spent more than 3% of their GDP on defense. In the early 1980s, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, European NATO members spent an average of 3.8% of their GDP on defense."