European Union leaders will hold emergency talks in Brussels on Thursday, gathering as the Trump administration upends traditional alliances and retracts wartime backing of Ukraine.

Thursday's summit brings all 27 EU leaders together for the first time since the explosive meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky last week, with US military aid and intelligence sharing since suspended.

The evaporation of American support has sent Ukraine's allies scrambling, with EU leaders openly questioning Washington's reliability as a security partner going forward.

While the Brussels meeting will aim to cement European support for Kyiv, it is unlikely to yield any major announcements of aid beyond the 30 billion euros ($32 billion) the bloc has already committed for this year.

The stark prospect of the United States pivoting from its European alliances has, however, fuelled a growing consensus on the summit's other major topic: the need to bolster Europe's defences against Russia.

Ahead of the meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out an 800 billion euro plan to "re-arm Europe" and assume responsibility for the continent's........

© International Business Times