European leaders to gather in London on Sunday to shore up support for ‘securing a just and enduring peace’ in Ukraine.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as most of Europe rallies behind Kyiv after Zelenskyy’s public clash with United States President Donald Trump.
Starmer’s office said he would meet Zelenskyy in London on Saturday before a wider summit of European leaders on Sunday, which Downing Street said will focus on shoring up support for “securing a just and enduring peace” in Ukraine.
US support for Ukraine stands in doubt after a White House meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump on Friday devolved into a shouting match.
Sunday’s summit is also expected to address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation amid fears about whether the US will continue to support NATO.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to “open the discussion” on a possible future European nuclear deterrent after a request from Friedrich Merz, who is expected to be Germany’s next chancellor.
Merz has stressed the need for the continent to move quickly to “achieve independence” from the US on defence matters. Advertisement
Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London, said the summit will take on an even “more heightened importance” after Friday’s acrimonious meeting during which Trump accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful”.
“European leaders are now contending with a real prospect of the US no longer supporting Ukraine militarily or perhaps withdrawing some of that support,” she sa …