"We are in an era of rearmament," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels Tuesday. "Europe is ready to massively boost its defense spending."

Toward this end, the EU is set to propose extending €150 billion ($158 billion) in loans to boost defense spending at a moment the Trump administration is clearly pulling back commitment for security on the continent, she announced, and at a moment of broader accusations that Trump is 'turning his back' on Ukraine.

Bloomberg commented on the newly unveiled plan, writing "After decades of underinvestment, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU also plans to activate a mechanism that would allow countries to use their national budgets to spend an additional €650 billion on defense over four years without triggering budgetary penalties."

The package and new plan could mobilize nearly €800 billion in combination with new defense spending loans, von der Leyen explained. The euro jumped as a much as 0.3% to $1.0521 immediately on the headline, reaching its highest level since Feb.26.

Rattled European leaders have been doubling down on their support for Ukraine in the wake of last Friday's disastrous Zelensky meeting with Trump at the White House. A London security meeting Sunday under PM Kier Starmer even floated a plan for ending the war, on favorable terms to Ukraine, backed by "boots on the ground and planes in the air."

But the fact remains, as Reuters recently pointed out, "US hard power is vastly superior to anything they can muster, even as they scramble to ramp up defense spending and vow to take more responsibility for their own security."

That same report concluded, "Whether Europeans can still rely on that power to come to their aid, as they have done for decades, is an existential question not only for Ukraine but for the continent’s security and the NATO alliance."

Commenting on the conundrum, Jana Puglierin, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote on X: "It seems to me that many have still not fully accepted that Trump simply does not want to play the role that Europeans want him to play." 

"No 'strong US backing' will materialize," she stated.

Below are more developing Tuesday headlines via Newsquawk:

All of the above presents the fear that even if Trump makes rapid headway with Putin, presenting a real chance to quickly find permanent peace in eastern Europe, EU leaders will be working to sabotage things given they'll see it as a 'bad deal' - and this will give impetus for Zelensky to keep fighting on, even as his front lines keep steadily retreating.