London (AFP) - European leaders closed ranks Sunday in support of Kyiv at a London summit, where they pledged to spend more on security and assemble a coalition to defend any truce in Ukraine.

And French President Emmanuel Macron, flying back from the summit, said in a newspaper interview that France and Britain wanted to propose a partial one-month truce.

The talks, which brought together 18 allies, came just two days after US President Donald Trump berated Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in front of reporters at the White House.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain, France “and others” would work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, which they would then put to Washington.

The London meeting came at a delicate moment for war-battered Ukraine, facing uncertain US backing and on the back foot against Russia’s three-year invasion.

Trump’s row with Zelensky also raised fresh questions over the US commitment to NATO.

Starmer said Europe found itself “at a crossroads in history.

“This is not a moment for more talk – it’s time to act. It’s time to step up and lead and unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace.”

With no guarantee of US involvement, “Europe must do the heavy lifting”, Starmer said.

Several countries were ready to help defend any truce, he added – without naming them.

Macron, in an interview with France’s Le Figaro newspaper, said he and Starmer were working on a one-month truce in Ukraine, “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”.

Asked about the plan by the BBC, he replied: “I’m aware of everything.”

- Warm welcome in London -

Zelensky was warmly embraced by many of the world leaders at the summit.

Outside the UK leader’s Downing Street home, demonstrators gathered to show their support for Ukraine, some dressed in the country’s blue and yellow national colours.

In addition to attending the security summit, Zelensky also met King Charles III at his Sandringham estate.

The welcome in London was in stark contrast to his reception at the White House.

There, Trump accused Zelensky of not being grateful enough for US aid and not being “ready” for peace with Russia.

Their argument, played out in front of the world’s news cameras, raised fears that Trump wanted to force Kyiv into a peace deal that would give Russian President Vladimir Putin what he wants.

Starmer, who had met Trump just days earlier, insisted the United States was “not an unreliable ally”. Any deal “must have strong US backing” to succeed, he said.

But after the leaders gathered on Sunday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned the continent urgently had to rearm to “prepare for the worst”.

And Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for the United States and Europe to show Putin “that the West has no intention of capitulating before his blackmail and aggression”.

Starmer and Macron have said they are prepared to deploy British and French troops to Ukraine to help preserve any truce.

But Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – whose hard-right coalition government includes Moscow-friendly politicians – appeared to play down the possibility of Italy contributing soldiers.

Rutte pointed to promises from more European countries to “ramp up defence spending”, while insisting that Washington remained committed to the transatlantic alliance.

- ‘Complete failure’ -

Hungary’s Russia-friendly leader Viktor Orban, posted on X: “European leaders decided in London today that they want to go on with the war instead of opting for peace.

“They decided that Ukraine must continue the war. This is bad, dangerous and mistaken. Hungary remains on the side of peace.”

Several Washington officials meanwhile suggested Zelensky might have to step down, underscoring the Trump administration’s sharp pivot on the war.

“We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, told CNN.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said Zelensky either “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country.”

Trump has cast himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin.

Zelensky, though he did not apologise after the White House clash, indicated that he was still open to signing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

The US president on Sunday reposted a message on his Truth Social platform arguing the mineral agreement itself would give Ukraine the security it was seeking and that “in the end, Zelensky will have no choice but to concede”.

A statement on the Ukraine presidential website on the London summit spoke of a “clear consensus that strong security guarantees must be the foundation of any potential ceasefire”.

It added: “The ceasefire must begin with the exchange of prisoners and the return of children. This would be a step to demonstrate Russia’s genuine intent for peace.”

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