WASHINGTON — A continent that has spent most of the past millennium at war with itself has united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Germany reversing its historic policy against sending weapons to conflict zones and even famously neutral Switzerland joining the rest of Europe against Moscow.

“It’s the rebirth of a new Europe,” said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia. “I’m absolutely shocked, I want to tell you honestly. It’s a historic shift. I think this will have major consequences moving forward for the future of Europe, for the future of the transatlantic alliance, for the future of NATO — just when all of those things were fraying.”

The European Union, for the first time ever, agreed Sunday to directly finance the purchase and delivery of arms, with plans to send more than half a billion dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine as it battles Russian forces in what the president of the European Commission called a “watershed moment.”

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