Von der Leyen: Europe's security at a turning point

Europe's security is "at a turning point," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today upon arriving in Paris for a meeting on Ukraine.

"I have just arrived in Paris for crucial talks. Europe's security is at a turning point. Yes, it is about Ukraine, but it also applies to us," she wrote on the "X" network.

"We need a sense of urgency. We need a leap in our defense and we need both of those things now," she pointed out.

European Council President Antonio Costa will also participate in an informal summit of the group of European leaders at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

This will be the beginning of a "process" in which the EU and its members will "play a central role," he wrote on the X network.

The heads of government of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, will also be present at today's meeting in Paris.

Officials from some countries that Macron did not invite to the meeting criticized him for dividing the European Union's 27 members, saying it showed weakness.

The meeting of European leaders comes days after a phone call between US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and their decision to discuss Ukraine directly at a summit in Saudi Arabia. Trump said yesterday that a meeting with Putin could happen soon.

In preparation for the meeting, a meeting of senior US and Russian officials is scheduled for tomorrow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The delegations will be led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.