European Leaders Summit: A Turbulent Weekend For Ukraine

By Daniel Rankin

Background – A Tale of Two Presidents

3 days ago Volodymyr Zelensky, president of a country invaded 3 years ago, sat across from another national president with whom he has certainly had history.

US President Donald Trump’s first impeachment occurred in December 2019, with the House of Representatives voting 230-197 and 229-198 on respective counts of Perjury and Obstruction of Congress. These charges emerged with Trump’s withholding of military aid to Ukraine, as part of a plan to influence an investigation into political opponent Joe Biden, whose links with Ukrainian company Burisma Trump had claimed of. [1] Trump’s coercion of Ukraine culminated in a phone call on 25th July, 2019.

On the other side of that phone was Mr. Zelensky, a man who had, just like Trump, established a remarkable campaign from a public and entertainment figure – a comedian – to the Head of State. Taking office in May of that year, Zelensky aimed to curb the Donbas Conflict in the East, which had been ongoing since the destabilising Russian Invasion of Crimea in 2014. The Donbas’s ethnically Russian separatist states Donetsk and Luhansk would return as Kremlin allies in the 2022 invasion.

Trump’s aforesaid impeachment did not mean much in practice, as the Republican-dominated Senate voted against, thus acquitted him. Either way, a two-thirds proportion is required for the Senate to remove the President from office; this likewise did not occur during his second impeachment trial in 2021, for charges related to the January 6th attack. Since Trump’s return as US President in January this year, he has engaged in escalating the threat of tariffs on allies such as the EU, neighbours Canada and Mexico, aimed to solve the Gaza war by “buying and owning” Gaza, and has demanded Ukrainian engagement with not only Russia but the US in a proposed Mineral Resources Agreement, whereby Ukraine would contribute 50% of proceeds from state-owned mineral resources (as well as oil and gas) to a fund for “reconstructing” Ukraine. [2]

What Happened on the Weekend?

Zelensky went to Washington expected to sign the MRA, and, like Britain’s Starmer and France’s Macron before him, was to be greeted in the Oval Office. As Macron had clapped back on Trump’s claims of aid to Ukraine being loaned [3], and Starmer against Vance on free speech [4], Zelensky perhaps felt some pressure to disagree with Trump on some matters.

After an initial cordial start, conversations went on to the past 10 years of conflict with Russia, and attempts at achieving peace throughout the past decade. After Zelensky asked Vance “What kind of diplomacy, J.D., you are speaking about?” – concerning the negotiated 2019 ceasefire with Putin [5], the conversation escalated; at first between him and the Vice President, and then on to Trump.

Trump particularly interjected when Zelensky said:

“during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel [it] now, but you will feel it in the future. God bless, you will not have war”

Trump responded:

“You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. Don’t try to dictate how we are going to feel.”

Trump then accused Zelensky, past his interjections:

“You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards”

“You’re gambling with millions of lives, you are gambling with World War 3 […] and what you’re doing is very disrespectful”

Aside from this, Zelensky was asked by a reporter by he wasn’t wearing a suit, and JD Vance and Trump alike continued to accuse him of being ungrateful; the former saying “have you said thank you once?” After being removed from the White House – leaving behind an empty press conference room – Zelensky headed back to Europe, first for a summit in London.

The emergency European summit was arguably a spectacle for a European event that didn’t include America; markedly, EU Foreign Minister and Vice-President of the Commission Kaja Kallas stressed a degree of independence by saying “Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge”. [6] Indeed, the emergency summit also included plans for peace, with Starmer expressing a deal that maintained economic pressure on Russia – that they cannot “accept a weak deal”. [10]

Quite significantly, Starmer proposed a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine, that involves willing countries preparing to deploy soldiers and aircraft. The UK government has announced a £1.6bn missile deal for Ukraine, with 5,000 air defence missiles to be made at Thales, Belfast. [11]

Following the conference and Zelensky’s trip to England, the Ukrainian President restated his commitment to the MRA [7]:

“The agreement that’s on the table will be signed if the parties are ready.”

Whilst most Western leaders have been expressed their commitment to support of Zelensky, leaders like Starmer have remained very diplomatic in expressing disagreements with Trump. The UK premier ditched the SNP’s call [8] to scrap the planned Trump state visit (having met with him in Washington only a day prior to the affray), and commented on his role as a “bridge” in international relations, insisting that Trump “wants lasting peace”. [9]

The past week – in spite of leaders trying to de-escalate in their own eyes – has certainly been one of escalation. The Russian Invasion of Ukraine is beginning its fourth year, and it’s difficult to predict any outcome in a potentially tripolar world. Whether Trump will maintain developing that seemingly strong relationship with Putin – or backtrack and support NATO – is hard to say. What is clear is that, in spite of this transatlantic rift, pan-European relations, as seen above, are arguably the strongest in decades.

References

[1] Associated Press (2020) ‘AP Explains: Trump seizes on dubious Biden-Ukraine story’, AP News, Available at: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-ukraine-elections-134406f28e826380924bbcf773d2c05a

[2] BBC News (2025) ‘What we know about US-Ukraine minerals deal’, BBC News, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn527pz54neo

[3] PBS NewsHour (2025) ‘Macron corrects Trump after he says European support for Ukraine was a loan’, PBS NewsHour, Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/watch-macron-corrects-trump-after-he-says-european-support-for-ukraine-was-a-loan

[4] BBC News (2025) ‘Latest Ukraine war developments’, BBC News, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgee7rl24ro

[5] Associated Press (2019) ‘Trump-Zelenskyy call transcript’, AP News, Available at: https://apnews.com/article/trump-zelenskyy-vance-transcript-oval-office-80685f5727628c64065da81525f8f0cf

[6] NBC News (2025) ‘Zelenskyy seeks support at emergency European summit after bruising Trump encounter’, NBC News, Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/zelenskyy-emergency-european-summit-bruising-trump-encounter-rcna194325

[7] France 24 (2025) ‘Zelensky says Ukraine ready to sign minerals deal with United States’, France 24, Available at: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250303-zelensky-says-ukraine-ready-to-sign-minerals-deal-with-united-states

[8] BBC News (2025) ‘Starmer dismisses SNP call to axe Trump state visit’, BBC News, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3yqwd1kkko

[9] BBC News (2025) ‘Live: Ukraine conflict updates’, BBC News, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c798823922yt

[10] ABC News (2025) ‘UK prime minister announces framework for peace plan after summit with Zelenskyy’, ABC News, Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/International/zelenskyy-set-european-summit-london-after-trump-showdown/story?id=119338966

[11] Belfast Telegraph (2025) ‘Belfast firm to make air defence missiles for Ukraine in UK’s £1.6bn deal’, Belfast Telegraph, Available at: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/belfast-firm-to-make-air-defence-missiles-for-ukraine-in-uks-16bn-deal/a1238724718.html