European leaders ‘doubling down’ on backing Zelenskyy after Trump blowup

LONDON – Rattled European leaders gathered in London on Sunday, promising they were “doubling down” on supporting Ukraine and boosting military aid following the televised Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The heads of state rallied around the embattled Zelenskyy, who was greeted with cheers outside 10 Downing Street and a warm hug from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when he arrived late Saturday. The pair embraced again at the start of the summit Sunday, which Starmer described as a “once-in-a-generation moment” for European security, and sat next to each other during the talks.

The display of support marked a stark contrast to comments from numerous Trump administration officials Sunday, who heaped blame on Zelenskyy for the White House uproar that national security adviser Michael Waltz described as “incredibly disrespectful.”

The London gathering did not release a formal statement after the meeting. But participants agreed to sustain or boost military aid flowing to Ukraine, Starmer told reporters afterward, and to insist that Kyiv be directly involved in any negotiations with Moscow to end the war.

Starmer, who organized the meeting and has talked to Trump at least twice since the Zelenskyy meeting, said the gathering solidified Britain’s own commitment to Ukraine.

“We are doubling down,” Starmer said at the summit’s end. He announced a new $2.7 billion loan for Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, and $2 billion in British export financing for Ukraine to purchase air defense missiles manufactured in Belfast.

Europe’s aim now, he said, was to arm Ukraine sufficiently that it could begin any peace talks from a position of strength. He said other countries had expressed interest in joining a “coalition of the willing” to help monitor a ceasefire, but did not announce any formal commitments.

Starmer said Sunday that he and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom also met with Trump last week, were working to shape a diplomatic cleanup of U.S.-Ukraine relations. The two and “possibly one or two others” would act as mediators between Washington and Kyiv, seeking a ceasefire plan acceptable to Ukraine and Europe that they could present to Trump.

The Ukrainian president’s welcome in London was in stark contrast to his truncated White House visit. Immediately after the summit, he flew by helicopter for an official audience with King Charles III at Sandringham, the monarch’s country retreat. Zelenskyy – who on Friday left the White House early after the fractious exchange with Trump and Vice President JD Vance – said the king’s invitation made him “very happy.”

Starmer also extended a royal invitation to Trump, and a full-blown state visit, at their Thursday meeting at the White House, as part of his own attempt to shore up American support for Ukraine.

Asked in a Sunday interview whether he trusted Trump, Starmer answered in the affirmative, saying he believed Trump was sincere in his desire for a lasting peace in Ukraine. But he acknowledged that the Oval Office verbal brawl made him squirm.

“Nobody wants to see what happened on Friday,” he told the BBC’s “Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.”

European leaders continued their chorus of support for Ukraine that began after Friday’s fireworks, praising the country’s efforts to resist the Russian invasion even as they took care not to directly criticize Trump.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday’s summit, which was planned before Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump, was meant to make clear that Europe remained committed to the embattled country. “On my way to London to highlight Europe’s ongoing support to Ukraine that can lead to just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she wrote on X.

Following the meeting, she told reporters that Europe needed “a surge” in military spending to rearm itself.

Starmer and Macron made clear they would continue their campaign to rescue something of American backing for Ukraine, even as they confronted growing evidence that Trump’s pivot toward Russian President Vladimir Putin could be genuine and lasting, and that Europe would be forced to take on more of Ukraine’s – and possibly its own – defense if Trump shrinks the United States’ role.

“Beyond the frayed nerves, everybody should return to calm, respect and recognition, so we can move forward concretely, because what’s at stake is too important,” Macron told French reporters late Saturday.

Macron suggested before the London meeting that the White House volcanics didn’t necessarily signal a permanent breaking point in Kyiv’s relations with Washington. Macron said Zelenskyy had told him since the White House meeting that he is willing to “restore dialogue” with the United States, including on a negotiated U.S.-Ukrainian minerals agreement that went unsigned in D.C.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni talked to Trump by phone Saturday before her departure for London. The right-wing, anti-immigrant leader has established warmer relations with Trump than most leaders in Western Europe, meeting with him three times since the beginning of the year.

Meloni suggested Sunday that Italy could help “play a key role in bridge-building.” But the White House meltdown puts her in a squeeze between Trump, other European leaders and her right-wing rivals at home. Meloni has staunchly backed Ukraine and opposed Russia, even against pushback from within her ruling coalition. Her rival and coalition partner, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, lashed out repeatedly at Ukraine over the weekend, calling on Italy to side with Trump on ending the war.

The Italian media has also been filled with interviews of Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-born New York real estate investor known as a close Trump ally. During a tour through Italy, Zampolli made clear Trump’s antipathy for Zelenskyy and the anger Meloni could face from the right for backing him.

“Meloni’s position on Ukraine must change, (Trump) doesn’t like it,” Zampolli said in an interview with the Italian outlet Il Foglio. Asked what should happen with Zelenskyy, Zampolli replied, “He should be the one to rebuild Gaza with all the money he stole.”

Trump officials lined up in Sunday interviews to pin the White House blowup on Zelenskyy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Ukrainian president of foiling Trump’s plans to strike a ceasefire with Russia, claiming Zelenskyy disrupted American efforts to get Putin to the negotiating table.

“That’s our goal,” Rubio said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week.” “Don’t do anything to disrupt that. And that’s what Zelenskyy did, unfortunately. He found every opportunity to try to ‘Ukraine-splain’ on every issue.”

Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s national intelligence director, said Zelenskyy “directly challenged” Trump in the Oval Office and “showed his lack of interest in any good faith negotiations.”

“There’s going to have to be a rebuilding of any kind of interest in good faith negotiations before President Trump is going to be willing to reengage on this,” Gabbard said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He’s gambling with World War III and that is not a cost President Trump is willing to accept.”

Starmer had called the London summit as a follow-up to two gatherings of European heads of state, who have struggled to respond to Trump’s upending of long-entrenched security and trade norms.

At the meeting, the British leader continued his push to place London at the forefront of Europe’s response to the Trump upheavals. Starmer fast-tracked a surge in British defense spending Saturday and pledged troops as a main part of a potential future European security force in Ukraine. On Sunday, he called on other European governments to grow their militaries and to join a “coalition of the willing” in taking up the slack in Ukraine.

The Sunday summit was well attended, drawing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO head Mark Rutte, who expressed optimism when leaving the meeting that Europe’s breach with Trump could be healed.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended, as did the foreign minister of Turkey, also a NATO member.

Andrew Ackerman and Ariana Eunjung Cha in Washington, Ellen Francis in Brussels and Anthony Faiola in Rome contributed to this report.