A Europe Shocked by Trump's Violence Faces Its Position Between Ukraine and the US

Europe, shocked by the violent meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, faces a long weekend where it must quickly orient its internal security policy and its relationship with the United States. This is the view of some leading international policy analysts this Saturday, who point to the need for the EU, along with the UK, to dispense with diplomatic niceties at a time of maximum distancing from the White House.

Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is speaking with various European leaders this morning to try to organize an "immediate" summit between Europe and the United States to address the crisis. "Every division in the West makes us all weaker and benefits those who wish to see the decline of our civilization," she said in a statement released Friday night, with Trump's shouts about Zelensky and his expulsion from the White House still fresh.

Meloni warned that this fracture "benefits no one" and considered it urgent to hold a meeting to "speak frankly about how we intend to face the great current challenges"; among them, the invasion of Ukraine and security against Russia, which this Saturday mocks the "clown" Zelensky in public media. Former President Dmitry Medvedev has taken the opportunity to deepen the wound, declaring that the Kremlin is willing to be flexible in talks about Ukraine, but only with interlocutors who "are willing to communicate," echoing Trump's own words amid his storm of fury.

From the other side of the Atlantic, recriminations also rain down on the Ukrainian president after his most complicated and catastrophic state visit in three years of war. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged him to "apologize" to the White House, and a majority of conservatives rally in support of Trump.

Since the Republican and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on February 12, the European community has tried to ride the tsunami. Washington is clear that French leader Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Keir Starmer visited Trump this week to convince him to consider Ukraine, but only by "massaging his ego," as noted by the country's main media. Today there is some fear that this path will prove futile. If the US president has been able to shamelessly humiliate the Ukrainian leader, breaking the White House's rules of courtesy for the first time, why can't he do the same with any European leader who challenges him? If he slams the door on Ukraine, with its thousands of dead present in the world's conscience, what might he do to an ally in case of anger?

The idea that the American friend is now less so since Democrat Joe Biden left the Oval Office in January is spreading. German conservatives, soon to be responsible for the Chancellery, believe that the rupture between Trump and Zelensky may have an extensive character and should make Berlin think about the need to rearm "more quickly" than planned. "It must be more than a warning sign for us," said Alexander Dobrindt, a German politician from the Christian Social Union, who in statements to 'Bild' encourages Friedrich Merz to make a "significantly greater investment in military technology, weapons, and equipment." Although the new head of government has already promised a multi-billion euro expenditure, his entourage states that Germany must have the means "to defend itself" as soon as possible, given the risk of being left orphaned by the American protective umbrella.

Zelensky has already arrived at Stansted Airport, near London, where he will remain for the summit convened this Sunday by Keir Starmer with about fifteen European leaders. He has set foot on British soil almost twenty hours after his stormy face-to-face with Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, a politician some already know as the "wasp nest agitator," who initiated the harassment of the Ukrainian leader by telling him he had not sufficiently thanked the United States for its help in the war.

The Sunday summit initially seemed like a routine meeting between those held earlier this week by Macron in Paris and the one to be held next Thursday in Brussels. In this session, which appears to be long and controversial with partners like Hungary, reluctant to maintain support for Kyiv, the EU should formalize the commitment to send 35 billion euros to Ukraine in military and humanitarian support.

However, the London meeting has now acquired an undeniably higher status following the embarrassing White House episode. The EU countries cannot wait until next Thursday to make their stance clear. Their purpose is to reaffirm support for Kyiv at a time of maximum isolation and to strengthen Europe's security against Russia, especially when all international references point to Trump siding with Putin. Today, an American analyst noted: the Republican president is a "businessman" and, as such, tries to achieve the greatest return – peace in Ukraine – with the least cost in time and expenses. And that means not confronting Putin, as he tried to instill in his guest Zelensky by reprimanding him for showing "hatred" that makes negotiation unfeasible. Then, he canceled the lunch and kicked him out of the White House. All that was missing was a final scene with the credits of 'The Apprentice,' the show where the now-president used to fire people.

The Ukrainian leader will meet with Starmer this afternoon and tomorrow will co-chair a summit with fifteen guests including Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, as well as the European Union and the European Council. The Baltic countries may possibly join via videoconference given the nature of the meeting (they were not initially invited). Norway comes to the table already with the promise of increasing funds for the former Soviet republic. At the end of 2024, the Parliament approved a package exceeding 3 billion euros to finance Ukraine in the current fiscal year and will soon bring an initiative to Parliament to increase the allocation.

The post-war consensus built after the second world conflict seems doomed to disappear following Trump's fluctuations. Some media compare the importance of today's summit with that of Yalta in 1945 between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, as the top representatives of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The idea that the EU should focus on politics, the economy, and the welfare state while the US takes care of defense as the world's policeman is outdated. And Starmer, according to some British media, must reset himself this Saturday in view of his presentation tomorrow at the summit. The friendly but uncommitted impression he brought back from the White House on Thursday fits poorly with the horror and apprehension felt by his European guests after the public humiliation of Zelensky.

This Sunday, the leaders will draft a manifesto of firm support for Ukraine, but behind the scenes, there will surely be an intense debate about the controversial increase in military industry spending. Without going hand in hand with Washington, everything points to the final amount going far beyond even what was speculated. Even if there were a peace treaty, Europe is beginning to assume that it will have to take responsibility for the subsequent process of ensuring peace in the region.

Meanwhile, the UK itself acknowledges that its GDP investment forecasts in Defense are possibly falling short in light of recent events. If it wants to set up a nuclear umbrella as Merz and Macron want to sponsor, the EU needs to acquire a thousand nuclear missiles to deter Russia and its 1,550 long-range projectiles, according to Maximilian Terhalle, a researcher at Stanford University, in 'The Telegraph,' a medium that ventures that Europe will require making purchases and investments "never seen on the continent since the end of the Cold War."

Meanwhile, Ukraine walks towards darkness. Its president acknowledged last night on Fox News that, without US support, it will be almost impossible to maintain the confrontation with Russia. "Despite the difficult dialogue, we remain strategic partners," he added, hoping that talks can resume, although he warned that "we must be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals. Trump wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than us," he emphasized before recalling words from the fortieth US president, Ronald Reagan: "Peace is not just the absence of war."