European leaders dealt with President Donald Trump’s return to office trying to keep him cooperating in relation to Ukraine while pressuring to increase their own defense spending, so as to depend less on increasingly fickle America.
But Friday’s meeting at the Oval Hall, in which Trump scolded President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, stressed to European leaders that they may need to make more concrete plans-and quickly.
After the heated discussion, a visibly annoyed Trump canceled a press conference with the Ukrainian leader and posted on social networks that Zelensky “was not ready for peace” while he had American support.
Her anger-and her threat that the United States could stop supporting Ukraine if she didn’t accept any US mediated peace agreement-it was just the latest sign that Trump was changing US foreign policy, moving away from traditional allies in Europe and approaching Russia.
“The scene in the White House yesterday left me speechless,” Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told DPA, a German news agency on Saturday. “I would never have believed that we would have to defend Ukraine from the United States.”
The drastic change in American strategy has left the continent’s leaders stunned. Many fear that if the war ended with a weak deal for Ukraine, it would encourage Russia, making it a greater threat to the rest of Europe. And the change of tone makes the achievement of greater self -sufficiency more urgent than ever, even if European leaders face the same frightening challenges as before.
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It would take years to build the weapon systems and the capabilities that Europe would need to be truly independent militarily. And supporting Ukraine while building local defenses could require the kind of rapid action and unified political will that the European Union often struggles to achieve.
“It all depends on Europe today: the question is, how will they act?” said Alexandra of Hoop Scheffer, interim president of German Marshall Fund. “They have no alternative.”
European leaders were debating how they could help ensure safety in Ukraine if a peace agreement was achieved, which terms would consider acceptable and what they could offer Ukraine in their next aid package.
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In fact, high employees are ready to meet next week to discuss defense, first in London on Sunday, at a meeting organized by Keir Stmerer, the British Prime Minister, and then in Brussels on Thursday, in a special European Council summit, which brings together EU leaders.
Representatives from 27 Bloc member countries gathered on Friday afternoon to draft a draft ideas for the meeting in Brussels. The plan included requests to strengthen the EU defenses faster than previously expected and to define more possible possible safety guarantees for Ukraine, according to an EU employee informed on the subject.
And that was before Friday’s discussion between Trump and Zelensky.
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The disagreement caused an immediate wave of public support to Ukraine of many European officers.
“You will never be alone, dear president,” wrote Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the EU executive arm in Ukrainian on the social platform X on Friday night in a joint post with other European leaders.
This has also caused requests for rapid actions, with some European diplomats and leaders hoping that even countries that have been reluctant to increase defense and support for Ukraine now join a more ambitious approach.
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“A powerful Europe, we need her more than ever,” posted President Emmanuel Macron from France on social networks. “The wave is now.”
However, despite all encouraging statements, accelerating Europe’s transition to greater defense autonomy will not be an easy task.
For starters, beating a larger part of the financial burden to help Ukraine will probably be expensive. Only the United States has spent about $ 114 billion on military, financial and humanitarian aid for Ukraine over the past three years, according to a frequently used tracker compared to Europe’s $ 132 billion.
Also, when it comes to broader European defense, America provides critical weapon systems and other military equipment that would be almost impossible to replace rapidly.
“We still need the US,” said Jeromin Zettelmeyer, director of the Bruegel research group, based in Brussels.
European employees were discussing a future aid package for Ukraine, which could total dozens of billions of euros. On Friday night, countries that were pressuring more ambitious sums hoped Trump’s tone during the Zelensky meeting would help encourage the most reluctant European countries to open their pockets, according to a diplomat familiar with discussions.
But Hungary should oppose the new aid package for Ukraine, which could force the EU with a long effort to gather contributions from member states rather than approving a block level package, as the latter would require unanimity.
In a clear sign of disunity, Viktor Orban, Hungary Prime Minister, stood out from many other European leaders, thanking Trump for his discussion with Zelensky. He wrote on social networks that the US leader “bravely defended peace,” even if “it was difficult for many to digest.”
European employees were also considering whether, when and how to put European peace maintenance forces on Ukrainian soil, if an agreement is achieved to stop war. Britain expressed willingness to send troops to Ukraine, as did France. Discussions on this should continue next week.
But in the light of Friday’s discussion, some say the time for slow deliberations may have been over. While officers had just started talking about how safety guarantees could be for Ukraine, they may need to start thinking quickly about how to implement them, Hoop Scheffer said. “This is a time for Europe to mobilize very, very seriously,” he said.
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