EU leaders will discuss Trump's tariff policy and measures for protection against Russia.

European Union leaders will meet on February 3 to discuss how to strengthen the continent's defense against Russia and how to engage with U.S. President Donald Trump following his decision to impose tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China.

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Reuters.

At the royal palace, which has been converted into a conference center in Brussels, leaders from the 27 EU countries will also have lunch with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and dinner with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council of EU leaders, stated that the one-day meeting will not be an official summit. It will focus on defense policy without any official statements or decisions.

The first session will be dedicated to geopolitics and relations with the United States, meaning that Trump's sweeping decision to impose tariffs over the weekend will surely be discussed, especially given EU officials' concerns that they may soon face similar measures.

Trump, who began his second term as president on January 20, will also play a significant role in defense negotiations, as he has demanded that European countries spend much more on their own security and rely less on the United States through the NATO security alliance.

Trump's call for Denmark, an EU member, to cede Greenland to the United States, along with his refusal to rule out the possibility of military action or economic pressure to compel Copenhagen to act, has also heightened tensions in transatlantic relations.

EU leaders are expected to discuss what military capabilities they will need in the coming years, how they can be funded, and how they can work more closely together on joint projects.

"Europe needs to take greater responsibility for its own defense," Costa stated in a letter to the leaders. "It needs to become more resilient, more effective, more autonomous, and a more reliable security and defense actor."

Funding Search

According to diplomats, discussions on funding will be particularly challenging as many European countries have limited opportunities for significantly increasing public spending.

Some countries, such as the Baltic states and France, advocate for joint EU borrowing for defense expenditures. However, Germany and the Netherlands are firmly opposed.

Some diplomats believe that one compromise could be borrowing funds to finance loans rather than grants for defense projects.

In recent years, European countries have increased defense spending, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to war at the EU's borders.

However, many EU leaders have stated that they will need to spend even more. Trump has stated that NATO's European members should spend 5% of GDP on defense—a figure that no alliance member, including the U.S., currently meets.

According to EU estimates, last year EU countries spent an average of 1.9% of GDP on defense—around €326 billion. This is 30% more than in 2021. However, it also masks significant disparities among EU countries.

Poland and the Baltic states are among the countries with the highest defense spending as a percentage of GDP, with Warsaw leading at over 4.1%, according to NATO estimates. However, some of the largest EU economies, such as Italy and Spain, spend much less—around 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.