On 2nd September 2026, Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO met with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to reaffirm the two organisation’s support for Ukraine after a fresh attack on Leipzig airport from Russia.

The German government concluded that Russia was behind the attack last month, and ordered a series of measures in response, including the closing of the Russian consulate as well as a Russian cultural site in Berlin.

The European Commission and NATO referenced this latest attack at a press conference in which von der Leyen said that that ‘Europe and NATO will not just maintain pressure on Russia,’ but [they] would increase it, and not stop until Russia stops bombing and killing innocent children, men, and women in Ukraine.’

She said that the attack was ‘part of a broader pattern of increasingly dangerous incidents,’ including ‘repeated incursions in our air space, drones that paralyse our airports, and interference with our critical infrastructure.’

She confirmed that the EU is considering a payment request of several billion euros to Ukraine, which would cover the country’s air support, including the PAC-3 Patriot air defence system.

Currently, the European Commission is already working with Ukraine on FREYJA, an anti-ballistic missile defence project.

Von der Leyen added that Europe needs a ‘faster, more integrated alert system across Europe, [through which Europe can] intercept threats faster.’

This is one of the reasons the European Commission has put forward an 800 billion euro defence investment plan, which includes 150 billion euros through SAFE; which helps EU member states make rapid and significant increases in their defence investments through common procurement.

Mark Rutte echoed support for the objectives, stating that ‘the allies are united in their commitment to each other, to our collective defence.’

To achieve this, he said that both parties must invest more in defence infrastructure, ‘something that the allies committed to last year in The Hague.’

He added that Russia has ‘grown increasingly reckless, as [it] continues its terrible war against Ukraine. We have seen more drones and missiles crossing into our airspace along our eastern flank, creating increased risk.’

He said that NATO had also seen an increase in ‘malign activities, targeting [EU] territory directly.’