Rasmussen urges Europe-wide defence coalition including Ukraine ahead of Berlin talks

A former NATO secretary general has called for a new coalition of willing European states, including Ukraine, to help defend the continent if the United States reduces its military presence. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the idea should be considered as Europe prepares for a meeting of leading defence powers in Berlin and a NATO summit in Ankara. He argued that the proposal would act as an insurance force if European allies are not ready to fill any gap left by a US drawdown.

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Rasmussen said the force should be led by France and the United Kingdom, which he described as Europe's two nuclear powers. He made the remarks at a seminar on European defence on Monday, two days before the Berlin meeting. According to the proposal, an expanded coalition would go beyond the existing concept of a reassurance and training force inside Ukraine and instead provide security guarantees for continental Europe.

The comments come as European governments are under pressure to show they can shoulder more of the burden for their own defence. The upcoming NATO summit is expected to focus on whether allies have followed Donald Trump's demand that Europe spend more on defence. Officials are also preparing to discuss a new target of €70bn in extra spending for Ukraine over two years, alongside a broader commitment by countries to raise defence spending to at least 5% of gross domestic product by 2035.

The proposal also reflects concern among European defence officials that support for Ukraine remains concentrated among a relatively small group of states, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Rasmussen, who has also been a close adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine should be part of any wider European security arrangement because of its battlefield experience. He described Ukraine as "militarily the strongest in Europe", a view that underlines how the war has changed the balance of military expertise on the continent.

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The debate is taking place against the backdrop of a review of US troop numbers in Europe announced by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth. So far, military officials have said they do not expect any withdrawal to be so sudden that it would immediately endanger European security. Even so, Rasmussen's intervention suggests that some European figures believe the continent should prepare for a more permanent shift in Washington's approach to European defence.

What remains unclear is whether any European governments will formally back Rasmussen's idea, or whether it will remain a political argument ahead of the Berlin meeting and the Ankara summit. It is also not yet clear how such a coalition would be structured, funded or integrated with NATO planning. The coming talks are likely to show whether European leaders are willing to turn the proposal into a practical security framework or keep it as a contingency plan.

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