Europe urgently needs to rearm and member states must be given the fiscal space to carry out a surge in defence spending, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday after a meeting about support for Ukraine.

European Union (EU) leaders will gather in Brussels on Thursday for a summit which could see member states mobilise up to 800 billion euros to 'ReArm Europe' as proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to ramp up the defence spending,