New plans envisage "mix and match" approach which places fighter jets at regional airports in the European country where they are needed most.

It remains to be seen how far President Trump’s embrace of Russia and abandonment of traditional allies will go. But “the West” may be gone.

For three years, the Kremlin saw the United States as its biggest enemy, accusing US President Joe Biden of prolonging the Ukraine conflict by supplying weapons to Kyiv. Pro-Kremlin media and pundits have amplified Trump's criticism of Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,

Moscow dismissed Macron’s nuclear deterrent offer as “extremely confrontational,” saying the remarks reflected Paris’ ambitions to “become the nuclear ‘patron’ of all of Europe,” despite the fact that France’s nuclear forces are far smaller than those of the U.S.

Stalked by war, stunned by surging extremist parties and sapped by deindustrialization, Europeans are now panic-stricken at an American president determined to make Russia great again — and sacrificing the 80-year-old transatlantic alliance in the bargain.

Russia ruled out European proposals to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine and said on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron had threatened it by suggesting that Moscow was a grave menace to Europe.

"Europe faces a clear and present danger," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post to X as Zelenskyy arrived.

There is a broad consensus Europe needs to help Ukraine. France and the UK are offering "a coalition of the willing" on the ground if a peace deal can be found. Russia hates the idea but Macron will bring together army chiefs on Tuesday to work on a plan.

It’s a “turning of the page” as European leaders try to fast-track plans to bolster defenses and back Ukraine — and ultimately curb reliance on the United States.

In a war dominated by the unexpected, few imagined Ukraine’s fourth year at war would so firmly now question the security of all of Europe.

A push by the United States to end the war in Ukraine has raised questions about how companies might begin to return to the Russian market and how Europe might re-engage with Moscow, including resuming piped natural gas supplies.

On Sunday, European leaders, Secretary General Mark Rutte of NATO and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada gathered in London at the invitation of Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, and pledged to bolster support for Ukraine and develop a plan to end the war that could win the support of Mr. Trump.