Zelensky hopeful of Trump fix after Europe meeting

London: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held out hope his country’s relationship with the United States can be salvaged as Britain and France work to pull together a European coalition that could help end Ukraine’s war with Russia.

European leaders scrambled to broker an agreement in London on Sunday that could appease Ukraine and the US, after talks between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump descended into a public shouting match at the White House two days earlier.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Le Figaro ahead of the London gathering that he and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine “in the air, at sea”. European peacekeeping troops would be deployed on the ground only in the second phase of any peace deal.

(From left) Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain’s Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron in London on Sunday.Credit: AP

After the meeting, Zelensky said he left London with “Europe’s clear support” and readiness to co-operate.

He acknowledged the scenes inside the Oval Office had not been helpful but said he believed Ukraine’s relationship with the US would continue.

The Trump administration continued to criticise Zelensky on Sunday, but the Ukrainian president told reporters he was “sure that this situation will pass by” and that if future talks are “constructive, a positive result will come”.

Starmer said it was clear that Europe would need to do “the heavy lifting” in the face of a more isolationist America, but added that backing from Trump would be needed.

“We need to deliver together,” Starmer said after the meeting. “We are at a crossroads in history today … the UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air together with others.”

He said that progress had been made in building a coalition that would commit military assets, including troops on the ground, if Europe were to build a force to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Starmer pushed for a greater contribution from European allies to continent-wide security and announced a new £1.6 billion ($3.42 billion) deal that would allow Ukraine to purchase 5000 air-defence missiles using export finance. Macron later suggested that European countries should raise their defence spending to between 3 and 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product to respond to Trump’s demands.

World leaders at the Securing our Future summit at Lancaster House in London.Credit: AP

“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” Macron told Le Figaro. “The question is how we use this time to try to obtain an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a deployment.

“We want peace. We don’t want it at any price, without guarantees.”

Zelensky, who also met King Charles for almost an hour on Sunday, has been sceptical of Europe’s ability to act alone to defend Ukraine.

Again wearing a military-style black sweatshirt adorned with the Ukrainian trident, which attracted scorn from his US critics in the Oval Office on Friday, Zelensky and the King were served tea in Sandringham’s Saloon room, at the royal residence in Norfolk.

King Charles III hosts Zelensky at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Credit: Getty Images

Locals, some holding Ukraine flags, gathered outside the estate to witness Zelensky’s entrance by helicopter. The BBC reported Zelensky requested the meeting and it was approved by the UK government, in line with protocol.

The Ukrainian president has consistently said the US would be needed to deter the Kremlin from attacking his country again if there were a ceasefire deal.

The US has sent nearly $US70 billion ($112 billion) in military aid – dwarfing contributions from any of Kyiv’s other allies – since the start of the war. But European nations have steadily stepped up their support, with the European Union, Britain and Norway combined giving Ukraine about $US25 billion in military aid last year – more than the US.

Starmer said “a number” of European countries had indicated at the summit they would be willing to join a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine, but it would be up to them to outline their contributions in the future.

He said the key to any deal would be to keep military aid flowing into Ukraine and, while the war was ongoing, increase economic pressure on Russia and ensure Ukraine was at the table for any peace talks.

Starmer was cautious not to call out Trump’s berating of Zelensky but said, “nobody wants to see that”. He added that Zelensky was “rightly concerned” that any proposed peace deal “has to hold”.

“I do not accept that the US is an unreliable ally. There are no two countries as closely aligned as our two countries,” he said, adding that he wanted to achieve a “lasting peace” in Ukraine, based on its military being fortified, a European peace-keeping force on the ground and US security guarantees to deter Russia from trying to invade again.

Macron, however, said he was sceptical about a ceasefire deal signed between the US and Russia, adding that it would leave Ukraine vulnerable.

Starmer could not say Trump had agreed to US security guarantees for any peace deal, but said discussions were ongoing. Leaders from Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania were at the summit. The discussion also included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Trudeau, who will step down in coming weeks, said all countries had an important role to play, adding that Canada has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine for more than a decade, particularly in training defence forces.

When asked about Canada’s contribution to the so-called “coalition of the willing”, Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s commitment.

“We’re going to continue to be there to support Ukraine as necessary with whatever it takes for as long as it takes,” he said, highlighting that Ukraine’s fight is not only for its territories but for the “very principles and values” that sustain democracies worldwide.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Europe had to turn Ukraine into a “steel porcupine” that was “indigestible” to invaders.

“We all have understood that after a long time of underinvestment, it is now of utmost importance to step up the defence investment for a prolonged period of time,” she said.

“We need in the geostrategic environment in which we live to prepare for the worst.”

Asked for his thoughts on the summit, Zelensky told the BBC he believed Ukraine’s best security guarantee “is a strong Ukrainian army”.

He said it was “important” that European allies were not reconsidering Russia’s role as the aggressor, adding he’d again raised the issue of using frozen Russian assets to help rebuild his country.

In Washington, a Trump administration official told The New York Times the president would meet on Monday with his top national security aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, to consider, and possibly take action on, a range of policy options for Ukraine. These included suspending or cancelling US military aid to Ukraine, the official reportedly said.

Rubio on Sunday said Trump was being unfairly criticised over the White House meeting and accused Zelensky of trying to derail peace talks by taking every opportunity to “Ukraine-splain”.

with AP, Reuters

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