That Europe’s political identity arises from its international setting during moments of crisis, as well as from its own historical traditions, has rarely been more apparent. The extraordinary events of Friday evening in the White House underline that another defining moment has arrived, as a transatlantic split emerges on the war in Ukraine.
The new Trump administration has already demanded that European states take responsibility for Ukraine’s security. Added to this are threats of 25 per cent tariffs on European Union exports to the US, and now intense pressure on Ukraine to make concessions to Russia. Europe’s response should be to protect its own interests and values at regional and global levels with equal resolve.
Whether Europe can do that depends on its leadership’s political will and capacity. A striking feature of the changing international environment is the understanding that this really matters across the large range of European states involved. The European Union brings together 27 of them, but that does not exhaust the continental response. UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s ready assumption of European identity in his talks with Trump should not be seen only in the security and defence terms it was expressed but has a much wider resonance.
That can be seen in his calling a number of European leaders to London this weekend, ahead of a larger EU-convened meeting in Brussels next week, and following French president Emmanuel Macron’s earlier talks with Trump. The urgency of these talks is underlined by the outbreak of tensions with Washington over Ukraine.
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Capacity questions are rightly dominating these bilateral and summit meetings. European defence and security can no longer be predicated on US funding of Nato. US tariffs against EU exports target not only them but the trade and economic integration they represent. The multilateral, liberal and social values underlying integration are similarly challenged by Trump’s policy-makers and allies in Europe.
The uncertainties which Europe is now dealing with were starkly illustrated by the angry meeting in the White House between US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump’s demand to Zelenskiy to “make a deal or we are out,” could hardly be more stark.
Events could move quickly from here. Europe’s leaders were correct to come out quickly in support of Zelenskiy in response to the extraordinary conduct of the US president and his vice-president JD Vance . The EU now finds itself in the midst of serious tensions between Kyiv and Washington, accelerating the need for its leaders to make key decisions on Europe’s defences and leaving big questions about what happens next in Ukraine.
