London summit gains urgency after Washington clash
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other Western leaders, in a summit that has now taken on greater importance in the wake of an extraordinary verbal clash in Washington on Friday.
After a heated row with Trump, who threatened to stop support for Ukraine after accusing Zelenskiy of being ungrateful for U.S. aid, the Ukrainian leader flew to London on Saturday to be greeted on Downing Street.
The summit will include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Romania. The Turkish foreign minister, NATO secretary-general, and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council will also attend.
On Sunday, European leaders are expected to press for peace talks to include Ukraine, aiming to strengthen Kyiv’s position and to secure the security guarantees to ensure a long-lasting peace. That would mean persuading Washington to offer a backstop, possibly in the form of air cover, intelligence, and surveillance. Therefore, some leaders might encourage Zelenskiy to go back into talks with the U.S. leader and rebuild bridges.
Starmer will also update other leaders on his meeting with Trump, when the U.S. president praised his efforts to increase defence spending and offer to deploy peacekeeping troops.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Saturday that Europe faces a historic test and has to care for itself, adding that European countries have to increase their arms spending to reach at least 3% of GDP.
According to Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank, the White House meeting was “a major step backward,” adding that Ukraine can no longer rely on military or political support from the U.S. after Trump declared himself neutral in negotiations.
“The immediate goal of the meetings in London must be to keep Ukraine in the fight so it can negotiate from a maximum position of strength,” Ellehuus said.
