Key points
- Keir Starmer says that Europe will write a peace plan in Ukraine to present to the United States.
- The EU leaders promised greater support to Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s clash with Donald Trump.
- Europe plans to increase defense expense to prove that it can protect itself.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, said that European leaders agreed to elaborate a peace plan in Ukraine to take the United States, a vital step for the United States to offer security guarantees that Ukraine says they are vital to deter Russia.
On a summit in London only two days later And he shortened a visit to Washington, world leaders offered a strong sample of support to the Ukrainian President and promised to do more to help his country.
Starmer said that “Europe must do heavy work” to ensure peace in Ukraine, since he indicated that several countries were ready to help defend any truce.
He said that the leaders at the summit agreed four important steps:
- To maintain military aid and increase economic pressure on Russia
- Any peace agreement must guarantee the sovereignty and security of Ukraine, and Ukraine must be on the table
- In the case of a peace agreement, European leaders will continue to promote the defensive capacities of Ukraine to deter any future invasion
- A “coalition of the provisions” will be built to defend an agreement in Ukraine and guarantee peace
European leaders agreed that they must spend more on defense to show Trump that the continent can protect themselves, and with many nations fighting with public finances already stretched, the head of the European Commission suggested that the block could relieve its rules around debt.
Starmer, who welcomed a Zelenskyy visibly shaken on Saturday with a warm hug, said Great Britain, Ukraine, France and some other nations would form a “coalition of the provisions” and elaborate a peace plan to take Trump. He did not mention what other nations, but said that more countries were willing to join.
“We are at a crossroads of history today,” said Starmer. “This is not a time to speak. It is time to act. It is time to step forward and lead and unite around a new plan for a fair and lasting peace.”
After Trump’s screaming party with Zelenskyy in the Oval office increased the fears that the United States will support Ukraine and, on the other hand, impose a negotiated peace plan with Russia, Europe is fighting to make sure Ukraine is not expelled from any conversation.
To do so, several leaders said they should increase defense spending, something that could help bring Trump aside to offer an American security guarantee in the case of peace.
“After a long time of underestimation, it is now very important to intensify defense investment for a prolonged period of time,” the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Leyen told reporters.
“Member States need more fiscal space to make an increase in defense spending,” he said, adding that Europe needed to convert “Ukraine into a steel pig that is indigestible for possible invaders.”
The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that leaders agreed that Europe needed to assume more responsibility and begin to have the “more expenses in their defense budgets within NATO.”
He added that all leaders agreed that they must maintain nearby ties with the United States.
Lack of armament, stock
Lacking the weapons and depth of the populations of ammunition in the United States, Europe hopes to convince Trump that he can defend himself, but that Russia will only adhere to a peace agreement that comes with the support of the United States.
The conversations with the US have focused on their role as a so -called support for a European peace maintenance mission, possibly in the form of aerial coverage, intelligence and surveillance and a threat not yet specified if Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to take more territories.
But it is crucial to obtain any Trump agreement is that European nations increase defense spending and indicate that they would participate in any peace maintenance role, something that Starmer acknowledged that it was difficult to obtain unanimity.
Starmer increased defense expense before his visit to Washington last week, and NATO general secretary Mark Rutte said that some European leaders had established new plans on defense expense at the meeting, but refused to give details.
