Europe seeks to turn the momentum for Ukraine after a week of tension in diplomacy

A meeting in the Oval Office between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, two days ago, added the importance of the 2 March talks organised by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The meeting included dozens of European leaders, including the Ukrainian president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, secretary - general, attended. NATO, Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen, and European Council President Antonio Costa.

A US representative did not attend the conference, although Starmer declared ahead of the summit that the United Kingdom, France and Ukraine -- “and perhaps one or two others -- would work on a peace plan that Washington would discuss.

If there were doubts before, it would already be clearer than ever for Zelensky that his country enjoys great moral support on the European continent.

Both Starmer and French President Macro during their respective visits to the White House on February 27th and 24th urged Trump not to abandon Ukraine and take a strong stand on Russia, while praising the American president's plans for a quick peace to end the three-year war.

Macroni's visit coincided with the third anniversary of the occupation, when the United States shook world opinion by joining Russia in a vote against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Moscow's aggression against Ukraine.

And after Zelensky himself's visit to Washington on February 28th was interrupted shortly after the clash with the American Trump and Vice President JD Vance, he received a lot of solidarity messages from Europe.

EU Chief Diplomat Kaya Kallas said that the free “bot needs a new leader”, in an implicit criticism of Trump, while Von der Leenenskyt told your “Dinjt honours the courage of the Ukrainian people” in a post to X.

Material assistance from Europe will also be available, with Starmer and Zelensky agreeing to a 2.26 billion-pound loan to Ukraine. Zelensky said this would be offset “using revenues from Russian frozen assets”, following a warm welcome to London.

But can European assistance be sufficient to compensate for a possible lack of financing from the United States ʹ the biggest contributor to Ukraine's military assistance now that relations between Washington and Kiev are at the worst point in the last decade?

This is the question that concerns decisionmakers in Europe, after the severe clash between Zelensky and Trump in front of journalists at the White House, where Trump presented himself as a “intermediate” between Moscow and Kiev instead of a staunch ally of the latter.

“or you're going to reach an agreement, or we leave”, Trump said, during a tense exchange that seemed to leave Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, concerned.

On March 2nd, in response to criticisms that he has been very close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump posted to his social network that Americans should spend less time worrying about Putin” and focus more on the <x2 micro-bands of immigrants, drug bosses, murderers and people from the mental health institutions that enter our country so we don't end up like Europe! ”

For his part, Zelensky characterised Putin as “a killer” who cannot be believed to respect a ceasefire agreement without solid security guarantees from the United States, which Washington has yet to give.

Ukrainian president has declared that he still believes bilateral relations can be saved, despite the apparent collapse of an agreement between Kiev and Washington on the important minerals of Ukraine and post-war reconstruction, REL reports.