British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has urged European leaders to “step up” to a “once-in-a-generation moment” for the continent’s security at an emergency summit called in London on March 2.

European leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Turkey, Nato and the European Union joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who had just flown from his notorious press conference with US President Donald Trump in Washington, to attend the summit.

The US is still smarting from what the White House sees as Zelenskiy’s insults on February 28. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the same day as the summit that Trump’s administration will reconnect with Ukrainian officials once they are prepared to “pursue peace” and that the Ukrainian leader had hurt relations by trying to “Ukraine-splain on every issue.”

“The only way it ends is if Vladimir Putin comes to a negotiating table and right now President Trump is the only person on earth who has any chance whatsoever of bringing him to a table to see what it is he would be willing to end the war on,” Rubio said in an interview.

Sitting next to Zelenskiy and in front of the flags of Ukraine and European nations, Starmer threw his weight behind Ukraine, saying it was "a once-in-a-generation moment for the security of Europe and we all need to step up".

"I hope you know that we are all with you and the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes. Everyone around this table," he told the Ukraine leader. "We need to agree what steps come out of this meeting to deliver peace through strength for the benefit of all."

Turkey’s presence was particularly notable. The country has one of the largest armies in Europe and the second largest land forces in Nato, but it is not an EU member, nor usually invited to the top table of EU summits, though Ankara has had candidate status since 1999.

“Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan … is proposing that Turkey lead peace talks that would take place between Russia and Ukraine under Turkish auspices,” Starmer continued.

Starmer said that the allies were forming a “coalition of the willing” to step up and provide Ukraine with military and financial support, however, stopped short of offering Ukraine bilateral security guarantees, which Zelenskiy has been pushing for.

"A number of countries have indicated today that they want to be part of the plan that we are developing," said Starmer, without naming them. "I'll leave them to make their own statements about exactly how they want to make that contribution.”

He also announced new multi-billion pound grants and aid packages ahead of another meeting scheduled for March 6 in Brussels, when a new EU defence package will be announced.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was at the meeting and warned that "we urgently have to rearm Europe" as leaders from the continent met in London for crisis talks over Ukraine and the EU present a "comprehensive plan" at the EU summit to make Ukraine a “steel porcupine” that would not be able to digest by Russia.

Equally notable were all the EU leaders that didn’t attend the summit, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who have been Russia supporters. Orban said that he would block any EU attempt to arm Ukraine, leaving Starmer and his fellow delegates in the position where they have to put together a support package that is assembled by the national governments and not as a collective EU project.

"Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back," Starmer said.

Poland is another attendee. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk attended the last emergency summit last week, called by French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in London, to coordinate Europe’s reactions to Trump’s decision to exclude Europe and Ukraine from the start of the US-Russia ceasefire talks that kicked off in Riyadh on February 18, but broke up without achieving anything concrete.

At that meeting Tusk made it clear that Poland will not contribute any peacekeepers to Ukraine in a post-war scenario and saw its role as “protecting Europe’s eastern border” but by keeping its armed forces inside Poland. Warsaw is currently spending 4.7% of GDP on defence and is building up the largest conventional army in Europe.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also said that Italy would not send soldiers to Ukraine. "The presence of Italian troops in Ukraine at this stage has never been on the agenda," she said.

This second summit was not only to show solidarity with Ukraine as the White House is clearly getting ready to withdraw its support, but also the beginning of a European effort to remake its own security arrangements, relying more on its own resources. Von der Leyen emphasised that Europe has to not only invest heavily in beefing up Ukraine’s arms production sector, but that Europe as a whole needs to do the same.

Nevertheless, Starmer made clear that he wants the US on board and that the future European security arrangement needs US backing and a security “backstop.”

"Europe must do the heavy lifting, but to support peace in our continent, and to succeed, this effort must have strong US backing," Starmer told reporters after the meeting.

That will be hard to do after it seems that the harsh minerals deal between the US and Ukraine appears to be dead. US National security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview on March 2 that the deal was off.

"It is impossible to have an economic deal without a peace deal. The sine qua non for an economic deal, is that Ukrainian leadership wants a peace deal," he said in an interview with the CBS television channel. When asked whether the deal is still on the table, he said, "Not at present." Trump had made signing the deal the basis of US continued support of Ukraine.

Nominally called to support Ukraine, the summit was also the second meeting of top European leaders that are scrambling to create a new European infrastructure. "We have to have a surge in defence" and "we have to step up massively" said von der Leyen, who as Germany’s former Defence Minister did little to reform Germany’s Bundeswehr.

Flanked by Zelenskiy and Macron, Starmer underscored the urgency of coordinated European action and said it was “vital to the security of every nation here and many others, too.”

The UK, France and Ukraine have agreed to draft a ceasefire plan to present to the United States. But as important was the discussion of a potential European military force that could be deployed to Ukraine to support a long-term ceasefire and deter further Russian aggression.

Starmer made it clear that he wants to get the US back on board if he can. Diplomats in London are reportedly exploring ways to salvage a security arrangement with the US while simultaneously formulating a ‘Plan B.’ Italy proposed an EU-US summit to address the situation, an idea backed by Poland.

Another pressing issue that was discussed at the summit was what to do about the possibility of a US military pullback from Europe. Some Nato members worry that Trump could withdraw troops stationed in European countries leaving Europe to defend itself for the first time since the end of WWII.

Despite recent tensions, Zelenskiy has sought to maintain a working relationship with the US. “Despite the tough discussions, we remain strategic partners,” he wrote on X, after his meeting with Trump. “But honesty and directness are essential to understanding our shared goals.”