European Council conclusions on Ukraine and on European defence and security

I. UKRAINE

1. The European Council held an exchange of views with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine.

2. The European Council reaffirms its continued firm and unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The European Union will continue to provide, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, comprehensive political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people.

3. The European Council welcomes the holding of the Intergovernmental Conference on the accession of Ukraine to the European Union and the opening of the fundamentals cluster on 15 June 2026, and looks forward to the opening of the other clusters, in line with the merit-based approach.

4. The European Union supports a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law and underpinned by robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine. Only a solution that respects Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity can bring about a just and lasting peace. Borders must not be changed by force, the aggressor cannot be rewarded and Ukraine’s long-term security and ability to defend itself must be guaranteed. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. The European Union will decide on matters of its competence or affecting its security.

5. The European Council supports diplomatic efforts to bring Russia’s war of aggression to an end and underlines the EU’s readiness to step up its engagement in that context, in accordance with the Union’s aim to promote peace, as enshrined in the Treaties. Europe has a key role to play in a future settlement and stands ready to defend its interests. Having failed to achieve its military and strategic objectives, Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. The European Council urges Russia to show genuine willingness regarding peace, agree to a full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire and engage in meaningful negotiations towards a just and lasting peace.

6. The European Council strongly condemns the recent serious escalation by Russia, including large-scale missile and drone attacks against civilians in Ukraine, the recent strikes against the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, as well as the increasingly aggressive, reckless and irresponsible behaviour towards EU Member States, including foreign information manipulation and interference, and threats against the European diplomatic presence in Ukraine. The recent incident in which a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into a residential building in Romania as well as similar incidents in other Member States are a direct result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and threaten the security of EU citizens and regional stability. The European Council strongly condemns the repeated violations of Member States’ airspace and territorial waters and underlines that Russia bears full responsibility for the consequences of its escalatory behaviour and its continued military actions. The European Council reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the security of all Member States.

7. The European Union and Member States are prepared to contribute to robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine, notably through the Coalition of the Willing and in cooperation with the United States. This will include supporting Ukraine’s ability to deter aggression and defend itself effectively, also in the long term, including through the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) and the European Union Advisory Mission in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine), as well as support for ceasefire monitoring through the EU Satellite Centre. The contribution of the European Union and Member States will be based on their respective competences and capabilities and in line with international law.

8. The European Council strongly condemns Russia for systematically and deliberately targeting Ukraine’s civilian and energy infrastructure, and calls for the immediate cessation of all military activities near Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, which pose a serious threat to their safety and security. It also calls for further intensified EU efforts, coordinated with international partners’ efforts, to support Ukraine in urgently repairing, rebuilding and strengthening the resilience of its critical infrastructure and energy system ahead of next winter and to ensure the rapid rehabilitation of the Chornobyl containment arch. At the same time, it encourages enhanced regional energy cooperation and cross-border electricity interconnections.

9. The European Union remains committed to supporting Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction, in coordination with international partners. In this context, the European Council looks forward to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk on 25 and 26 June 2026.

10. The European Council looks forward to the first disbursement to Ukraine from the EUR 90 billion loan for 2026 and 2027 before the end of June 2026. It calls on Member States to continue their bilateral support for Ukraine and underlines the importance of continued EU outreach to third countries to ensure further international support to help close the remaining gap in Ukraine’s finances. The European Council recalls the importance of Ukraine continuing to uphold the rule of law and welcomes the ongoing reform efforts.

11. The European Council underlines the importance of further sustained efforts to provide military support to Ukraine, including through the Ukraine Support Loan, and urgently accelerate the production and delivery of priority equipment, in particular air defence systems, ammunition, drones and missiles, including to help Ukraine protect its civilian population and its energy and critical infrastructure. In this context, further enhancing EU-Ukraine defence industrial cooperation remains crucial.

12. All military support as well as security guarantees for Ukraine will be provided in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain Member States and taking into account the security and defence interests of all Member States.

13. The European Union remains determined to further increase pressure on Russia and continue weakening Russia’s war economy so that it stops its brutal war of aggression and engages in meaningful negotiations towards peace. The European Council reiterates the importance of further reducing Russia’s energy revenues, curbing its shadow fleet operations and further constraining its banking system. The European Council welcomes the recent adoption of new sanctions, notably targeting the shadow fleet, following the adoption of the 20th sanctions package. It calls for the swift adoption of the 21st sanctions package. Undermining the Russian shadow fleet’s business model requires a ‘whole of route’ approach and coordination among Member States and with partners, including a common approach to addressing the significant environmental, security and maritime safety risks posed by such vessels. The European Council also stresses the importance of continued coordination with G7 and other like-minded partners on sanctions, of strengthening the enforcement of existing measures and closing loopholes, and of further reinforcing the anti-circumvention measures. The European Council stresses that, as long as there is no just and lasting peace in Ukraine, there should not be a normalisation of Russia’s participation in international sports and cultural events.

14. The European Council urges all countries to immediately cease any assistance to Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine, whether direct or indirect, and notably through the provision of dual-use goods and components. In particular, it strongly condemns the deployment of the DPRK’s military forces in the war against Ukraine as well as the continued military support provided to Russia by Iran, Belarus and the DPRK, among others.

15. The European Council reiterates its urgent call on Russia and Belarus to immediately ensure the safe and unconditional return to Ukraine of all unlawfully deported and transferred Ukrainian children and other civilians. In this respect, it welcomes the commitment made at the high-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children to step up action to secure their return. Other humanitarian relief efforts and confidence-building measures, notably the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of civilian detainees, must continue as part of the pathway to peace.

16. The European Council also reaffirms the EU’s commitment to ensuring full accountability for war crimes and the other most serious crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In this context, the European Council welcomes the ratification on behalf of the European Union of the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine as well as progress on the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. It encourages further sustained efforts within the framework of the Council of Europe towards the operationalisation of these two international bodies.

17. In light of the potential threat, including in the longer term, posed to the EU’s internal security by Russian ex-combatants having participated in the aggression against Ukraine, and taking note of the proposal by the Commission and the High Representative in this context, the European Council encourages further technical work to assess possible ways to address this issue, without prejudice to Member States’ competences in this domain.

18. The European Council will revert to this issue at its next meeting.

V. EUROPEAN DEFENCE AND SECURITY

40. In the face of serious security threats and challenges and with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine remaining an existential challenge for the European Union, Europe’s defence readiness must be decisively ramped up by 2030. Building on recent progress, the European Council calls for efforts to be stepped up, with renewed urgency, to deliver at pace and at scale on this objective, reduce strategic dependencies and address critical capability gaps, with a 360° approach.

41. Following the repeated violations of Member States’ airspace, the European Council stresses the importance of ensuring the defence of all EU land, air and maritime borders. In particular, the European Union strongly condemns the grave incident of 29 May 2026 in which a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into a residential building in Romania, and recognises the immediate threats on the EU’s Eastern flank. The European Union expresses its full solidarity with Romania and all Member States affected by similar incidents. Building on the progress achieved, the European Council calls for an acceleration of efforts to strengthen protection against such threats, including the ongoing work on the ‘Eastern Flank Watch’ project and other initiatives that will contribute to the protection of all EU borders.

42. The European Council also condemns all recent hybrid attacks against the European Union and its Member States. In light of the persistent hybrid campaigns by hostile actors, notably Russia and Belarus, the European Council calls for increased and urgent efforts to strengthen resilience, enhance preparedness, protect critical infrastructure, and prevent, deter and respond to hybrid attacks. It welcomes in this context the work conducted in the Council on the Action Plan on Drone and Counter-Drone Security, that contributes to these objectives and complements ongoing efforts in the field of defence.

43. The European Council recalls that a stronger and more capable European Union in the field of security and defence will contribute positively to global and transatlantic security and is complementary to NATO, which remains, for those States that are members of it, the foundation of their collective defence. The European Council underlines the importance of working together with like-minded partners, who share the EU’s foreign and security policy goals.

44. Recalling its previous conclusions, the European Council:

a) welcomes the sizeable and ongoing increase in defence expenditure in Member States, that needs to be accompanied by reinforced efforts to invest better and faster together;

b) welcomes progress in all priority capability areas, which have been identified at EU level in full coherence with NATO, and in particular regarding projects in the area of drone and counter-drone systems; early-warning, air defence, and deep precision strike capabilities; and space assets and services. It calls on Member States to resolutely accelerate work in all capability coalitions. It invites the European Defence Agency (EDA) to continue supporting Member States in coordinating the various work strands on capabilities;

c) reiterates the urgent need to strengthen the European defence technological and industrial base so that it can supply the required equipment at the necessary speed and scale, including the priority equipment in support of Ukraine. Further efforts are needed at all levels to adapt and ramp up production capacities and deliver, through research, new technologies and innovation, the defence industrial transformation necessary to meet the defence readiness objective. The European Council calls on the Member States to strengthen their engagement with the defence industry to that end and, in particular, to ensure close alignment between the capability and industrial dimensions in the work of capability coalitions, with the support of the EDA and, as regards the industrial dimension, the Commission;

d) reiterates the importance of the proper functioning and further integration of the European defence market across the Union, including intra-EU cross-border access to defence supply chains, especially for SMEs and mid-caps. The European Council recalls that the decision to authorise or deny the export of defence-related products is at the discretion of each Member State;

e) underlines that Europe must continue to draw lessons from Ukraine’s experience with new technologies, apply them in innovation and capability development processes, and work with the Ukrainian industry, including in the capability coalitions. It welcomes the initiatives recently undertaken in that regard;

f) calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to make full use of available instruments regarding capability development as well as industrial reinforcement, and to take the further steps needed in the implementation of the SAFE and European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) instruments as a matter of urgency. In this regard, the European Council underlines the importance of rapidly finalising work on the European Defence Projects of Common Interest, that will contribute to the defence readiness of all Member States;

g) welcomes the political agreement on the Defence Readiness Omnibus and calls on the co-legislators to agree by the end of 2026 on:

i) the Programme for agile and rapid defence innovation; and

ii) the military mobility proposal;

h) looks forward to the additional proposals announced by the Commission on defence and sensitive security procurement;

i) welcomes the first steps taken in the framework of the EDA to strengthen its support for Member States in the fields of innovation, capability development, including through harmonisation of requirements and aggregation of demand, and common procurement. It invites the EDA and Member States to pursue this work swiftly;

j) invites the European Investment Bank to continue to support defence readiness, in particular by strengthening the European defence industry, including by crowding in private investment.

45. The above is without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States, and takes into account the security and defence interests of all Member States, in accordance with the Treaties.

46. The European Council will return to these issues in October 2026, including on the basis of the annual defence readiness report, to be prepared by the EDA with the support of the Commission and the High Representative.