French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet separately with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House this week.
Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine have sent shockwaves through Europe, with leaders fearing a weakening of U.S. commitment to the transatlantic alliance.
His rhetoric has increasingly echoed Kremlin talking points, blaming Kyiv for Russia’s 2022 invasion and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator without elections.”
The former U.S. president has also downplayed the significance of the conflict, stating, “It doesn’t affect the United States very much. It’s on the other side of the ocean.”
European leaders, alarmed by what they see as a potential abandonment of Ukraine, have made urgent diplomatic overtures to Washington. Macron and Starmer, representing two of Europe’s most powerful nations, are expected to urge Trump not to withdraw U.S. support and to reaffirm NATO’s collective security commitments.
“The Europeans are running around with their hair on fire,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Macron has already signaled that he will warn Trump against being “weak” on Ukraine, while Starmer is advocating for a U.S. “backstop” to ensure continued military and financial aid for Kyiv.
Both France and the UK have offered to send peacekeepers should a ceasefire deal be reached, but the success of their proposal may hinge on Trump’s willingness to engage.
For his part, Trump has defended his stance, insisting that he seeks peace.
“I think that President Putin and President Zelensky are going to have to get together. Because you know what? We want to stop killing millions of people,” he said.
However, his approach has raised fears that he is prepared to reshape U.S. foreign policy in a way that would leave Ukraine, and by extension, Europe more vulnerable to Russian aggression.
His past threats to pull the U.S. out of NATO and reduce military deployments in Europe have only deepened concerns.
With the future of Ukraine hanging in the balance, Macron and Starmer’s meetings with Trump could prove pivotal in determining the trajectory of Western support for Kyiv and the stability of the European security order.
