European leaders walk a tightrope between supporting Ukraine and bringing the U.S. on board

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with key European allies as he faces pressure from the United States to quickly reach a peace deal with Russia.

In London, Zelensky held talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The meeting comes as the United States is trying to get Moscow and Kiev to quickly sign a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

The key and thorny issue for Kyiv is the issue of ceding territory to Russia as part of any peace deal and obtaining strong security guarantees to ensure Moscow respects the final agreement.

Ahead of the London meeting, Starmer insisted – as he has often done in the past – that Ukraine needed “strong security guarantees”. He has also repeatedly said that Kyiv must decide its own future rather than impose conditions.

Starmer hosted big names in London to discuss very important issues – not just about the future of Ukraine, but about the security of the entire continent.

There are concerns that if Russia is “rewarded” with Ukrainian territory as part of a peace deal, it may be emboldened to attack other European countries in the future.

But will Monday’s talks in London have any meaningful impact on peace talks?

The image of Europe’s most influential country standing side by side with Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street tells a story.

But when it comes to Washington, European leaders are walking a tightrope.

in its National security strategy released on FridayThe United States blames the Europeans for Ukraine, accusing them of having “unrealistic expectations” about how the war might end.

Although European leaders have yet to publicly comment on the document, European leaders are privately concerned that Donald Trump is keen on a quick resolution to Ukraine so that he can turn his attention elsewhere.

But they worry that a quick resolution would not mean a lasting peace — just a temporary halt to Russian aggression in Ukraine and possibly further into Europe.

Recent incidents, including drones causing chaos at civilian airports in Germany, Denmark, Belgium and elsewhere, a potentially deadly act of rail sabotage in Poland, and major cyberattacks across the continent, have been blamed on Russia.

They bring Europeans closer to the war in Ukraine, no matter how far they are from the front lines.

Along with this comes a sense that Russia wants to weaken the entire continent.

But we don’t hear these European concerns aired loudly and openly.

For the most part, leaders continued to praise Trump.

On Monday, Starmer said the US president had made the “biggest progress in four years” in peace talks in just a few weeks. Negotiations were complex but progress was being made, he added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “sceptical about some of the details we have seen in the US documents” but added “we have to discuss this”.

Indeed, European leaders do not want to anger the U.S. president over disagreements over how to achieve peace.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump’s attitude toward Kyiv has undergone a dramatic shift. His relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky was quite acrimonious, but he often praised Vladimir Putin.

Washington has stopped direct aid to Ukraine, although it still provides much-needed intelligence to the Ukrainian military and allows European countries to buy American weapons and then ship them to Kiev.

European countries cannot support Ukraine militarily without the United States.

After decades of military underinvestment, they cannot shoulder the security and defense of their continent on their own.

The United States is NATO’s largest and most powerful member. Europe looks to Washington for intelligence, command and control capabilities, air force capabilities (such as air-to-air refueling) and more.

Although Donald Trump pledged at a NATO summit a few months ago to significantly increase defense spending (Trump is far from the first US president to make such a request), Europe is unlikely to achieve military independence overnight.

European governments currently face considerable budget constraints.

In the UK, talk about the troubles and failings of public services is common. In France, which has long been in the throes of a huge budget crisis, next year’s draft budget provides for just €120m (£105m) in civilian and military aid to Ukraine.

It is because of these constraints that European leaders are so cautious in publicly expressing concerns about Washington and Ukraine peace plans. They don’t want to risk being completely isolated by the force they still call their greatest ally.

But there are clear differences between European and American attitudes toward Moscow.

While Europeans — especially countries bordering Russia — view Moscow as a destabilizing threat, the Trump administration in its National Security Strategy talked about the importance of establishing “strategic stability” with Russia and questioned Europe’s long-term reliability as an ally.

European leaders are trying to avoid further alienating the U.S. president while fighting for Ukrainian sovereignty and future continental stability. It’s a dance of twists and turns.