European leaders have been appointed by President Trump trying to continue to cooperate with Ukraine and to strengthen their own defensive spending, ensuring they are increasingly reliant on the whimsical America.
However, a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday denounced Ukrainian President Voldime Zelensky, underscoring that European leaders may need to come up with more specific plans.
Following the fierce exchange, Trump, visibly annoyed, canceled a press conference with Ukrainian leaders and posted on social media that he was “not ready for peace” as long as Zelensky is supported by the US.
His rage, and his threat that if the US does not accept the US-mediated peace agreement, they could halt Ukraine's support, were the latest indication that Trump was fighting for American foreign policy from his traditional European allies towards Russia.
“The White House scene yesterday gave me a breath,” German President Frank Walter Steinmeier told the German news agency DPA on Saturday. “We could not believe that Ukraine had to be protected from the United States.”
The harsh changes in American strategy have made continental leaders shaky. Many worry that if the war ends in a weak deal in Ukraine, it will spark Russia and pose a major threat to other parts of Europe. And even if European leaders face the same challenges they have before, changing tones will help them achieve greater independence than ever before.
It will take years to build the weapons systems and capabilities that Europe really needs to be independent militarily. And supporting Ukraine while building its own defenses can deprive the rapid action and unified political will that the European Union often struggles to achieve.
“It's all about Europe today. The question is how do you step up,” said Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, representing the German Marshall Fund. “They don't have any options.”
European leaders were already discussing how they could help ensure Ukraine's security if a peace agreement was struck, the conditions they would think would be acceptable, and what they would give to Ukraine in their next aid package.
In fact, the top officials are poised to meet this week at a gathering hosted by British Prime Minister Kiel, who will first meet in London in Sunday and then in Brussels to discuss at the Council of Europe special summit that unites the EU heads of state.
Representatives of the block's 27 member states met on Friday afternoon to come up with a draft idea for a meeting in Brussels. The plan included plans to make the EU defense faster than previously expected and to better define the potential for security assurances in Ukraine.
And that was before the exchange between Trump and Zelensky on Friday.
Flareup immediately erupted public support for Ukraine from many European officials.
“You will never be alone, dear President,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU executive arm, wrote in a joint post with other European leaders at X, a Ukrainian.
Also, some European diplomats and leaders called for quick action as they hope to board with a more ambitious approach, even countries that are reluctant to increase spending on Ukraine's defense and support.
“A strong Europe is needed more than ever,” French President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media. “The surge is now.”
Kaja Kallas, the top diplomat in the EU, was further emphasized.
“We will strengthen our support for Ukraine,” she wrote on social media on Friday night. “Today, it has become clear that the free world needs a new leader. It is up to Europeans to take this challenge.”
However, in all mandatory declarations, speeding up Europe's transition to greater autonomy over defense is not an easy task.
First of all, it is likely to be expensive to carry the majority of the financial burden to support Ukraine. Compared to Europe's $132 billion, the US alone has spent about $114 billion over the past three years on military, financial and humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
Furthermore, when it comes to European defense, and more broadly, when it comes to European defense, the US offers important weapons systems and other military equipment.
“We still need the United States,” said Jeromin Zettelmeyer, director of Brugel, a Brussels-based research group.
EU countries have been increasing military spending in recent years, spending 30% more than 2021 last year. However, some NATO countries are still deprived of their target of spending more than 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Part of the problem is that spending more on defense usually means spending less on other priorities, such as health care and social services. And given the economic challenges and budgetary constraints in small economies like Germany, France and Belgium, finding political will to strengthen spending has been a challenge.
Still, European leaders are trying to find ways to make the bloc's overall deficit rules more flexible to allow for more military investment.
Europeans aren't speaking in one voice when it comes to finding more money to support Ukraine.
European authorities were already discussing Ukraine's future aid package. By Friday night, the nation that had been seeking more ambitious amounts had hoped that Trump's tone during the Zelensky Conference would help create a delay in Europe.
However, Hungary is expected to oppose Ukraine's new aid package. This allows the EU to make the time-consuming effort to bring together contributions from member states rather than handing over the package at the BLOC level.
In clear indications of a dissociation, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, thanked Trump for trading with Zelensky, apart from many other European leaders. He wrote on social media that the American leader “was brave for peace, even if it was difficult for many to digest.”
European authorities are also considering whether, when and how Ukrainian European peacekeeping forces will be placed on Ukraine's ground if a contract is reached to stop the war. The UK, like France, has expressed its willingness to send its troops to Ukraine. It is scheduled to continue this week.
However, some say that the time for slow deliberations may have ended in light of Friday's exchange. Authorities were just beginning to talk about what security guarantees in Ukraine would look like, said DeHoop Scheffer of the German Marshall Fund.
“This is the time for Europe to step up very seriously,” she said.
She added that the explosion of the oval office emphasizes that European officials need to propose their best mediators to try to maintain the US as much as possible.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is considered one of the closest leaders to Trump in Europe. She said in a statement Friday night that she would try to promote a meeting among all allies.
“We need to hold an immediate summit between the US, European states and allies. “We'll start in Ukraine.”
And last week, both Starmer and Macron traveled to Washington to meet Trump. This seemed to be much better than his meeting with Zelensky.
In fact, Hoshi's plans to report on European leaders on trips during the Sunday Summit highlight one side effect of a change in American tone.
As Germany works to bring together France's struggle against new government and domestic political agendas, Stage will be placed in a more leadership role in dealing with the US.
But as Europe is increasingly aware that the US is “very unreliable,” the time that, as Bruegel's Zettelmeyer said, has placed Trump and wanted to continue the relationship, may be in the past.
“We had some of these shocking moments. Every time there is a shocking moment, there is a lot of hand-held,” he said. “Are the really interesting questions different this time?”
Emmabu mullet Reports of contributions.
