The EU has committed approximately €75 billion in financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine from 2022 to 2025, while also allowing member states to increase military spending. However, this support has not translated into a permanent mutualization of defense policy, as decisions remain at the national level. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard from the Peterson Institute argues that geographical proximity to Russia and varying national debt levels hinder a unified defense approach. The emergence of a ‘coalition of the willing’ among certain EU states may signal potential future collaboration, but a fully integrated European defense structure remains elusive.