EU defence ministers met in Brussels to coordinate support for Ukraine amid escalating Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s defence minister Yevhenii Khmara briefed the meeting by video link.Ministers discussed a proposed emergency protocol to coordinate European tools against hybrid attacks below the threshold of armed conflict. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the idea was at an early stage and governments wanted concrete details first.Kallas said European intelligence indicated Russia was planning further sabotage against European societies.

She also announced that the European Peace Facility had been unblocked, with 1 billion euros for joint defence procurement.EU member states now spend about 2.2 percent of GDP on defence, she said. The ministers also reviewed Operation ASPIDES, the EU naval mission in the Red Sea, which needs more ships to escort commercial vessels through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.The meeting aimed to close capability gaps and reach higher collective defence readiness by 2030.