European leaders scrambled on Sunday to salvage Ukraine’s relationship with the United States, after a bitter rupture last week between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump. They pledged to assemble a European “coalition of the willing” to develop a plan for ending Ukraine’s war with Russia, which they hope could win the backing of a skeptical Mr. Trump.
Gathering in London at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, the leaders vowed to bolster support for Ukraine. But they also expressed hope that Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump could repair their breach, underscoring Europe’s reluctance to cast off a trans-Atlantic alliance that has kept the peace for 80 years.
“We have to bridge this,” Mr. Starmer said on Sunday to the BBC before the leaders began arriving at Lancaster House, near Buckingham Palace. “We have to find a way where we can all work together.”
Mr. Starmer said he believed that despite Mr. Trump’s anger toward Mr. Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, the president was committed to a lasting peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. He said Britain and France, working with other European countries, would develop their own plan with Mr. Zelensky.
Details of the plan were sketchy, but Mr. Starmer suggested that the Europeans could use it as a basis to persuade Mr. Trump to commit to American security guarantees. Britain and France have already pledged to contribute troops to a peacekeeping force and are trying to enlist other countries across Europe.
“I think we’ve got a step in the right direction,” Mr. Starmer said, though he added that “this is a moment of real fragility in Europe.”
His comments captured the dilemma confronting Europe two weeks after Mr. Trump’s surprise overture to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Neither Europe nor Ukraine currently have seats at the table in a potential Trump-brokered peace deal. Nor has Mr. Trump agreed to give security assurances to prevent Russia from launching another invasion of its neighbor.
Mr. Trump’s acrimonious exchange with Mr. Zelensky deepened the trans-Atlantic divide. “Nobody wants to see that,” said Mr. Starmer, who had his own, much smoother meeting with Mr. Trump a day earlier.
The prime minister has tried to mediate between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump. Speaking to both men by phone after their clash, he floated the idea of Mr. Zelensky returning to the White House on Friday evening to mend fences with the president, according to a senior British official.
Both leaders demurred, saying it would be better to let tempers cool and the air to clear, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Still, Mr. Zelensky himself has also expressed a belief that his rift with Mr. Trump was not irreparable.
On Sunday in London, Europe wrapped Mr. Zelensky in a warm embrace. He won expressions of support from the 18 assembled leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy. After meeting them, he was scheduled to visit King Charles III at his country estate, Sandringham, northeast of London.
Yet behind the carefully choreographed show of solidarity, there was a recognition that keeping the United States on board remains critical.
“Starmer has two goals,” said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “Build an offer with the Ukrainians and Europeans that keeps the U.S. positively engaged in Ukraine’s security, while simultaneously preparing for a worst-case scenario where that may not prove possible.”
That will require European countries to shoulder a much heavier burden in defending the continent’s defense. Mr. Starmer is expected to push fellow European leaders to follow Britain in bolstering its military spending.
Last week, the British government announced that its defense budget would reach 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2027 and 3 percent within a decade. On Saturday, after meeting Mr. Zelensky at 10 Downing Street, Mr. Starmer gave Ukraine a loan of 2.26 billion pounds (about $2.8 billion) to buy additional military hardware.
The summit meeting has thrust Mr. Starmer into an unaccustomed place for a British prime minister: at the heart of Europe during a crisis. More than eight years after the country voted to leave the European Union, the rapidly changing security landscape is driving Britain closer to the continent.
Catherine Ashton, a Briton who served as the E.U.’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said Mr. Starmer’s successful meeting with Mr. Trump had reinforced his credentials as a leader for Europe.
“It is unsurprising that allies in Europe are…
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