Facing the prospect that the US might cut them adrift under President Donald Trump, European Union leaders launched a day of emergency talks on Thursday in a bid to beef up their own security and ensure that Ukraine will still be properly protected. Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, and summit chairman Antonio Costa discussed over breakfast in Brussels ways to fortify Europe’s defences on a short deadline. Meanwhile, the 27-nation bloc was waking up to news that French President Emmanuel Macron would confer with EU leaders about the possibility of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.

“Given the profound shifts in US policy, and the existential threat of another war on the continent, Europe must manage its essential defence tasks,” the European Policy Center think tank said in a commentary. Part of any security plan is also to protect the increasingly beleaguered position of Ukraine. However, Thursday’s meeting is unlikely to address Ukraine’s most pressing needs. It is not aimed at urgently drumming up more arms and ammunition to fill any supply vacuum created by the US freeze. Nor will all nations agree to unblock the estimated $196 billion in frozen Russian assets held in a Belgian clearing house, that could be seized for use.