COPENHAGEN

European leaders are gathering in Copenhagen on Thursday for a summit focused on the war in Ukraine and wider European security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend the seventh meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), which follows an informal meeting EU leaders’ summit in the Danish capital on Wednesday.

Security around the summit is tight, with Danish media reporting that the measures taken in Copenhagen are the largest since the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference.

The EPC was launched in 2022 at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

It was designed as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between European nations both inside and outside the EU, without the formality of state visits.

Talks in Copenhagen are set to address support for Ukraine, Europe’s security landscape, and measures to make the continent more resilient. Broader discussions will also touch on economic security, drug trafficking and migration.

The 47 invitees include all EU heads of state and government, alongside leaders from outside the bloc such as the UK, Ukraine, Moldova, Switzerland and Georgia.

Russia and Belarus have been excluded. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other key institutional figures are also expected to take part.

On Wednesday, EU leaders vowed to step up defense cooperation with Kyiv, warning that Russia’s intensifying campaign threatens the continent’s stability.

Speaking at a joint press conference, European Council President Antonio Costa described the bloc’s next summit on Oct. 23-24 as “decision day.”

“In two weeks, the European Commission will present the roadmap on 2030 defense readiness, and the European Council will meet again in three weeks, and that will be decision time,” Costa told reporters.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that Russia was “threatening us, testing us, and they will not stop,” stressing the urgent need for stronger backing for Ukraine.

At the top of Wednesday's meeting agenda was Europe’s defense capabilities. Proposals include a “drone wall” along the EU’s eastern frontier and new mechanisms to bolster collective defense.

Another key issue is support for Ukraine. The European Commission has proposed unlocking sanctioned Russian assets for a €140 billion ($164 billion) “reparations loan” to Kyiv.

The plan would give Ukraine an interest-free loan, to be repaid once reparations are settled after the conflict.

In his doorstep remarks on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged closer cooperation with the European Commission to strengthen Europe’s defense capabilities, highlighting both the EU’s new funding tools and Ukraine’s rapid development of its own arms industry.

He said Brussels’ decision to allow member states to use the fiscal “escape clause” was vital in giving governments more room to boost defense spending.

On Ukraine, Rutte said: “The support for Ukraine, if you look at Ukraine three years ago, zero defense industry. Now they have the most modern, most ingenious defense industry you can think of. The drone production is the cheapest, the fastest and the most intelligent worldwide.”