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The 27 leaders of the European Union gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the shockwaves caused by the Chinese economy, and the bloc's next long-term budget. Thursday's summit comes at the heels of a G7 meeting in Evian that managed to convince US President Donald Trump to sign a joint statement pledging to increase military support for Kyiv and sanctions on Russia. For the European Commission president, the tide is turning, referring to Ukraine's recent gains on the battlefield. Russia, on the other hand, the economy is suffering.
Um, the fact that Russia has shut down the internet, closed Telegram, for example, speaks for itself because Russia is again rising an iron curtain, but now it's a digital iron curtain on their people. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, attending the meeting, said he intended to discuss the opening of all EU accession negotiation clusters for Ukraine. He reaffirmed Kyiv's push for a faster path to membership despite concerns from several member states. EU leaders will also focus on China.
Brussels has concluded that EU-China trade is currently unsustainable, and something must change in the relationship to avoid an all-out confrontation. Uh, we definitely need more European coordination in our engagement with China to protect the European economy and to boost our competitiveness. So, I'm very much open for these discussions. On Friday, leaders will turn to another contentious topic, the next seven-year EU budget, which the Commission has pitched at a record-breaking 2 trillion euros.
