LONDON >> European leaders raced Sunday to salvage Ukraine’s ruptured relationship with the United States, with Britain and France assembling a “coalition of the willing” to develop a plan for ending Ukraine’s war with Russia. They hope this effort will win the backing of a skeptical President Donald Trump.

Gathering in London at the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the leaders vowed to bolster support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his bitter clash with Trump last week. But several also expressed hope that the two could repair their breach, underscoring Europe’s reluctance to cast off a trans-Atlantic alliance that has kept the peace for 80 years.

‘Crossroads in history’

“We are at a crossroads in history,” Starmer said after the meeting. “Europe must do the heavy lifting,” he declared, but added, “To support peace, and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing.”Starmer said he believed that despite Trump’s anger toward Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump was committed to a lasting peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. He said Britain and France, working with other European countries, would develop their own plan with Zelenskyy.

Starmer said the group of leaders — mostly from Europe — had agreed on four things.

The steps toward peace would: keep aid flowing to Kyiv and maintain economic pressure on Russia to strengthen Ukraine’s hand; make sure Ukraine is at the bargaining table and any peace deal must ensure its sovereignty and security; and continue to arm Ukraine to deter future invasion.

Before arriving in London, French president Emmanuel Macron suggested in an interview with a French newspaper that he and Starmer are proposing a “truce in the air, on the seas and energy infrastructures” that would last a month.

There would be no European troops in the coming weeks and troops would only be deployed on the ground at a later stage, he said.

The question, Macron said, is “how we use this time to try and get an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a deployment.”

Starmer suggested that the Europeans could use the plan as a basis to persuade Trump to commit to U.S. security guarantees. Britain and France have already pledged to contribute troops to a peacekeeping force and are trying to enlist other countries across Europe.

“I wouldn’t be taking this step down this road if I didn’t think it would yield a positive outcome in terms of ensuring that we move together,” Starmer said, referring to Trump.

His comments captured the problem confronting Europe two weeks after Trump’s surprise overture to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Neither Europe nor Ukraine currently has seats at the table in a potential Trump-brokered peace deal. Nor has Trump agreed to give any security assurances to prevent Russia from launching another invasion of its neighbor.

Trump’s acrimonious exchange with Zelenskyy deepened the divide. “Nobody wanted to see what happened last Friday,” said Starmer, who had his own, much smoother meeting with Trump a day earlier.

Starmer has tried to mediate between Zelenskyy and Trump. Speaking to both men by phone after their clash, he floated the idea of Zelenskyy’s returning to the White House on Friday evening to mend fences with Trump, according to a senior British official.

Both leaders demurred, saying it would be better to let tempers cool and the air to clear, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue. Still, Zelenskyy has also expressed a belief that his rift with Trump is not irreparable.

European support

On Sunday in London, Europe wrapped Zelenskyy in a warm embrace. He won gestures of support from the 18 assembled leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Afterward, Zelenskyy flew to meet King Charles III at his country estate, Sandringham, northeast of London. That visit, at the request of Zelenskyy, had a symbolic resonance, since Starmer had hand-delivered a rare invitation to Trump from the king to make a second state visit to Britain.

Yet, behind the choreographed show of solidarity, there was a recognition that keeping the United States on board remains critical.

“Starmer has two goals,” said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “Build an offer with the Ukrainians and Europeans that keeps the U.S. positively engaged in Ukraine’s security, while simultaneously preparing for a worst-case scenario where that may not prove possible.”

That will require European countries to shoulder a much heavier burden in the continent’s defense. Starmer pushed leaders to follow Britain in bolstering its military spending. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said several countries had pledged to do so, although he declined to name them.

On Saturday, after meeting Zelenskyy, Starmer gave Ukraine a loan of 2.26 billion pounds (about $2.8 billion) to buy military hardware. On Sunday, he announced plans to allow Ukraine to use 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) in British export financing to buy more than 5,000 advanced air defense missiles.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the European Union would fortify Ukraine with economic and military aid, aiming to turn it into “a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders.”

The Ukraine war has thrust Starmer into an unaccustomed place for a British prime minister: the heart of Europe, during a crisis. More than eight years after the country voted to leave the EU, the rapidly changing security landscape is driving Britain closer to the Continent.

A changed U.S. role

In Washington, a Trump administration official said Trump would meet Monday with his top national security aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to consider, and possibly take action on, a range of policy options for Ukraine.

These include suspending or canceling U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including the final shipments of ammunition and equipment authorized and paid for during the Biden administration, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Starmer’s use of the phrase “coalition of the willing” had a disquieting echo of President George W. Bush in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Britain, under a Labour prime minister, Tony Blair, joined the United States, but France and Germany did not.

The shock of Trump’s statements about Russia and Ukraine could reduce such divisions this time around, diplomats said.

“People realize they can no longer count on a nice Russia and a generous America, and that they have to get their act together on a number of issues, including defense and security,” said João Vale de Almeida, a former EU ambassador to the United States and Britain. The British, he said, are “more European than American in terms of what unites them to Europe and what unites them to America.”

Still, Starmer, who said he discussed his plans with Trump on Saturday night, rejected suggestions that the trans-Atlantic alliance was finished. “I do not accept that the U.S. is an unreliable ally,” he said.

This report includes information from the Associated Press.