Crisis summit in London

Message after meeting: “Europe has woken up!”

Starmer, Zelensky and Macron during an intimate three-way conversation

(Bild: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP)

Following the US U-turn on foreign policy, a first crisis summit in London has ended with a commitment to rearmament. The statements make it clear: Europe will change! France and the UK also advocated a ceasefire.

The leading politicians agreed that a group of European nations would draw up a peace plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine. This will then be discussed with the USA and President Donald Trump's government. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have proposed a ceasefire period of one month.

The ceasefire should apply "in the air, on the seas and in the energy infrastructure", Macron told the newspaper "Le Figaro". The advantage of such a ceasefire is that "it can be measured", as the front is extremely long - "the equivalent of the Paris-Budapest route". According to Macron, Europeans should increase their defense spending to between three and 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

"Europe has woken up!"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that European unity was "at an extremely high level" - as it had not been for a long time. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk proclaimed a new motto: "Europe has woken up!" The continent now speaks with one voice, he announced in an initial reaction after the meeting in London. 

He looked forward to next week's European Council summit with "cautious optimism". On Thursday, Europe will "send out a very clear signal that shows Putin and Russia that no one here in the West intends to capitulate to their blackmail and aggression".

A continent wants to "rearm"
According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Europe also urgently needs to rearm. Member states must be given the financial leeway to increase their defense spending, she said on Sunday after a meeting on support for Ukraine in London. Europe must show the USA that it is prepared to defend democracy.

The representatives of the respective countries demonstrated an iron will to rearm.

(Bild: Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press/AP)

"After a long period of underinvestment, it is now of the utmost importance to increase defense investment for a longer period of time," she told journalists. "Member states need more fiscal space to increase their defense spending."

New aid from the UK
The British summit host Starmer, who repeatedly emphasized the importance of the USA, also got specific. In addition to the billion-euro loan already announced, the British Prime Minister is now making a further 1.9 billion euros available for British export financing, which will enable Ukraine to "buy more than 5,000 air defense missiles." Starmer continued to press representatives: "Which will be manufactured in Belfast and create jobs in our brilliant defense sector."

This will be vital to protect critical infrastructure now and strengthen Ukraine in securing peace. Once this is achieved, Europe must learn "from the mistakes of the past": "We cannot accept a weak agreement like Minsk that Russia can break with ease."

Starmer explained that the heads of state and government had agreed to maintain military aid and increase economic pressure on Russia, and that they would insist that Ukraine must be at the table in all peace talks.

Troops for Ukraine
He confirmed the British-French plans to put together a "coalition of the willing" to push through a peace agreement. London is willing to defend a peace with troops in Ukraine: "With soldiers on the ground and planes in the air." This could only work if the USA helped. It is time to take the initiative. "We are at a crossroads in history today."

In recent days, a "reassurance force" of around 30,000 troops has been discussed, which could secure important infrastructure in western Ukraine and the ports on the Black Sea. On Sunday, Macron and Starmer apparently wanted to get a feel for who would participate in a deployment under these conditions. Several countries had signaled that they wanted to be part of a "coalition of the willing", said Starmer. However, it remained unclear exactly who they were. 

On Friday, there was an unprecedented rift between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi at the White House.

(Bild: SAUL LOEB)

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when asked if Canada could provide soldiers to a peacekeeping force, said: "Canada has been looking at how best to help, and as I said a few days ago, everything is on the table. We will not prejudge the discussions on how to maintain a peace that does not yet exist, but Canada will be there and is open to doing what is necessary." 

Rutte defends Trump and the USA
NATO chief Mark Rutte, who is fighting for the survival of his alliance, spoke of a "very good" meeting at which the European countries had "increased their spending", both in terms of their own spending and their support for Ukraine. 

There is no peace agreement yet, but "we have to prepare for this moment and make sure that European countries are ready to help with security guarantees". He also explicitly defended US President Donald Trump: "Let's please stop gossiping about what the US might or might not do; they're in NATO, they're committed to NATO, they're committed to Article Five, that's what they keep saying."

However, an agreement seems a long way off. At the same time, Mike Waltz, Trump's security advisor, continued to attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine may only be possible if he resigns. "We need a leader who can negotiate with us and ultimately with the Russians and end this war," Waltz told CNN on Sunday. However, the summit participants in London made it clear that the removal of Zelenskyi would not be accepted.