European capitals reacted with shock to Donald Trump’s abrupt turn against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seeking simultaneously to reassure Kyiv that it has the continent’s backing while trying to appease Washington.
The U.S. president on Wednesday embraced the Kremlin narrative, denouncing Zelenskyy as a “dictator.” Trump warned in a social media post that the Ukrainian leader had “better move fast” to reach a deal with Russia “or he is not going to have a Country left.”
The prospect of the U.S. removing its vast military and financial support for Ukraine, particularly as it begins negotiations for a peace without the involvement of Europe or Kyiv, has forced a reassessment of the European security architecture. French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will both travel to Washington next week to discuss Ukraine and defense.
“President Trump is a very smart man, he has his own unique way of expressing himself,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua on Thursday. “There can be no solution for Ukraine without the Ukrainians being involved and of course there can be no security arrangement for Europe without the Europeans also being involved.”
Even the Kremlin was caught by surprise over the harsh tone of Trump’s comments, which President Vladimir Putin hadn’t allowed himself to use. The criticism exceeded any expectations in Moscow that the U.S. view of the war could be turned to Russia’s advantage, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
While Russian officials don’t fully understand Trump’s negotiation strategy and are wary of traps and unexpected twists, they have to make use of the chance to extract the maximum possible gains for Russia in any deal to end the conflict, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Trump’s comments elicited an immediate and sharp reaction from European leaders.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media that “it is simply wrong and dangerous” to deny Zelenskyy’s “democratic legitimacy.”
“Ukraine has been defending itself against a merciless Russian war of aggression for almost three years,” he added.
Scholz’s conservative opponent in Sunday’s German election, Friedrich Merz, similarly backed the Ukrainian president, adding that “while the Russian president is in power with sham elections, we stand on the side of democracy.”
“We are on the side of Ukraine,” he wrote in a post on X. “Only with this clarity can this terrible war end.”
European leaders have been scrambling to come up with a strategy to secure a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, following the U.S. bilateral negotiations with Russia in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. But so far, they haven’t been invited to participate in the talks and haven’t yet decided who will speak for all of them.
“We’re at a relatively delicate state when it comes to these discussions and of course Europe also needs to come up and emerge with a unified voice,” Mitsotakis said. “We need also to do what is expected from us in order to commit to our own security not just Ukraine’s security.”
The U.K. and France have started drawing up plans for a European-led “reassurance force” for Ukraine, to ensure Russia doesn’t attack the country again if a ceasefire and peace deal are negotiated, Bloomberg reported earlier. The plan is contingent on Trump agreeing to provide the force with U.S. protection, including American aircraft and intelligence.
The plan, the details of which are still being discussed, would likely require less than 30,000 European troops to be deployed to Ukraine’s major cities, ports and critical national infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. Starmer will to try to convince Trump to agree during his trip to Washington.
But it’s not clear how much can be accomplished without American backing.
The U.S. has previously ruled out committing troops to Ukraine, indicated that it believes Europe needs to take responsibility for security on the continent. It also said that European peacekeepers would not be covered by NATO’s collective defense agreements if they were attacked.
That, along with signals that the U.S. is willing to make significant concessions to the Kremlin on NATO membership for Ukraine, left European officials concerned that there would be little to deter Russia from breaking a ceasefire once it has regrouped and rearmed.
“Let’s be honest: Without the U.S., it will be very difficult for us,” General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, told Poland’s Defence24 on Wednesday.
For Europeans, dealing with Trump will need some getting used to.
“It’s like George Orwell, where truth becomes lies and lies become truth,” Germany’s vice chancellor, Robert Habeck told ARD television late Wednesday, referring to the U.S. president’s comments. The fact that Trump blames Zelenskyy for the war “is almost unbearable.”
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With assistance from Arne Delfs and Michael Nienaber.
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