EU Leaders Talk Security In Budapest Amid Doubts Over Trump's Stance On Ukraine War

European Union leaders are holding an informal summit in Budapest to discuss the continent's security and Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine days after Donald Trump's reelection cast doubts on Washington's continued support for the embattled country and his commitment to NATO's collective defense.

The summit kicked off as Russia launched a third day of unusually intense attacks on Ukraine's cities that claimed more deaths and damage at the onset of a third winter for weary Ukrainian civilians and for outmanned and outgunned troops struggling to stave off a grinding Russian offensive in the east.

The United States is Ukraine's main military and economic backer, with the EU also among the largest donors. Most EU leaders have expressed continued strong backing for Ukraine.

Ahead of the summit, Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- who has maintained friendly ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and has obstructed the bloc's sanctions regime against Moscow -- told Hungarian state radio that the EU must rethink its position on helping Ukraine, calling the conflict a "lost war."

"The Americans will quit this war, first of all they will not encourage the war," Orban said.

"Europe cannot finance this war alone... Some still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war but the number of those who remain silent... and those who cautiously argue that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing," he added.

But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country is the main European backer of Ukraine was quick to reaffirm the bloc's unchanged position. "Russia has invaded Ukraine and is continuing this war with unchanged brutality," Scholz said.

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"One question is quite clear: Together as the European Union, as Europeans, we must do what is necessary for our security. This will be particularly successful if everyone makes their contribution."

Upon arriving for the summit in Budapest, European Council president Charles Michel also reaffirmed the bloc's strong support for Ukraine.

“We have to strengthen Ukraine, to support Ukraine, because if we do not support Ukraine, this is the wrong signal that we send to Putin, but also to some other authoritarian regimes across the world,” Michel said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was in Budapest on November 7 for a gathering of European leaders that preceded the EU summit, urged Ukraine's allies to provide more arms to help Kyiv defend its land and skies.

"There has been much talk about the need to yield to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, to back down, to make some concessions. It's unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all Europe," Zelenskiy said in his speech.

He also said talk of introducing a cease-fire without first agreeing security guarantees for Ukraine was "very dangerous."

"A cease-fire when there are no security guarantees...is a preparation for the continuation of the occupation," he said.

"They take pleasure in killing people," Zelenskiy separately said on X, referring to Russian forces.

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Russia on November 8 kept up the pressure on Ukraine's cities, striking the southern region of Odesa and Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.

At least one person was killed, and at least 38 others, including a baby, were wounded, according to regional officials.

A massive drone attack overnight on Odesa left one person dead and nine others wounded, Ukraine's Emergency Situations Service reported, adding that residential buildings, businesses, warehouses, and a school were also damaged.

Kharkiv was struck for the second day in a row on November 8, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.

A Russian missile hit a high-rise apartment building in the city's Saltiv district, wounding at least 25 people, including a 3-month-old baby, Terekhov said. Residential and historic buildings in the center of the city were also damaged, he added.

In the Kyiv region, falling debris from a Russian rocket injured four people, two of them seriously, regional Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.

Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said its air-defense systems shot down 62 out of the 92 drones launched by Russia at 12 of its regions -- Odesa, Mykolayiv, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskiy, and Ivano-Frankivsk.