By Elizabeth Piper and John Irish, Reuters
US President Donald Trump (right) and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP / SAUL LOEB
- Trump-Zelensky clash has increased sense of urgency
- France says one-month truce would test if Putin is serious
- Trump says 'America will not put up with it for much longer'
- Germany's Merz says Oval Office clash was not spontaneous
- European Union to unveil proposal to boost defence spending
Britain says several proposals have been made for a truce in fighting between Ukraine and Russia, after France floated a plan for a one-month pause leading to peace talks, but US President Donald Trump says his patience is running out.
European countries, led by Britain and France, are rallying around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to hatch a peace plan that includes Kyiv after last week's Oval Office rupture between Zelensky and Trump.
"There are clearly a number of options on the table," Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman said.
France, Britain and potentially other European countries have offered to send troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire - something Moscow has already rejected - but say they would want support from the US, or a "backstop".
Trump has reversed US policy by opening talks with Moscow over the head of Ukraine and without consulting its other Western allies. On Friday (local time), he publicly harangued Zelensky to fall in line or see the US cut off crucial military aid.
On Monday, the US president responded angrily to an AP report quoting Zelensky as saying the end of the war is "very, very far away".
"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"It is what I was saying, this guy doesn't want there to be Peace as long as he has America's backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S."
Zelensky says a ceasefire must carry explicit security guarantees from the West to ensure that Russia, which invaded Ukraine three years ago and holds about 20 percent of its land, does not attack again. Trump has refused to give any such guarantees.
Starmer hosted European leaders in London on Sunday and said they had agreed to draw up a peace plan to present to the US.
France suggests one-month truce to test Russian intentions
In an interview on his way to the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of a one-month truce, though there was no immediate public endorsement from other allies.
"Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.
"And that's when real peace negotiations could start."
European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Macron said in the interview, published in Le Figaro.
Zelensky, asked if he was aware of that proposal, told reporters in London: "I'm aware of everything."
European leaders are processing what some describe as Washington's biggest policy reversal since WWII after Zelensky left the White House abruptly on Friday following a dressing-down in front of cameras by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Zelensky had been in Washington to sign a deal to give the US access to Ukrainian minerals, but left without signing it.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News that Zelensky must apologise.
"What we need to hear from President Zelensky is that he has regret for what happened, he's ready to sign this minerals deal and that he's ready to engage in peace talks," he said.
"I don't think that's too much to ask. We'll see what happens in the next 48 hours, but we are certainly looking to move forward in a positive way."
Friedrich Merz, the conservative due to become Germany's chancellor after winning the largest share of the vote in an election a week ago, suggested Friday's Oval Office argument, in which Zelensky was pressed to commit publicly to a diplomatic solution, had been a pre-planned trap.
"It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation," Merz said.
"We must now show that we are in a position to act independently in Europe."
European officials feel Trump has betrayed Ukraine
Privately, and sometimes publicly, European officials are fuming at what they see as a betrayal of Ukraine, which had enjoyed staunch support from Washington since Russia's invasion.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said there had been "two victims" from the Oval Office clash: Ukraine's security and Europe's eight-decade alliance with the United States.
In the French parliament, he thanked Zelensky for standing firm. He spoke of "a staggering scene, marked by brutality, a desire for humiliation, whose aim was to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to surrender by threat".
But Europeans are also still working to keep the US onside. Peter Mandelson, Britain's ambassador to the United States, said Ukrainian-US relations needed to be reset, as Trump's initiative to end the war was "the only show in town".
Trump spoke by phone with Putin last month and then announced negotiations to end the war would begin quickly, blindsiding both Zelensky and his other Western allies, including the European Union and Britain.
European leaders now agree they must spend more on defence to show Trump the continent can protect itself. The EU will hold an emergency summit on Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would inform member states on Tuesday about plans to strengthen the European defence industry and the EU's military capabilities:
"We need a massive surge in defence, without any question. We want lasting peace, but lasting peace can only be built on strength, and strength begins with strengthening ourselves."
Russia has not concealed its delight, praising Trump for changing US policy and denouncing Zelensky for challenging him.
"We see that the collective West has partially begun to lose its collectivity, and a fragmentation of the collective West has begun," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"There remains a group of countries that rather constitutes the party of war, which declares its readiness to further support Ukraine in terms of supporting the war and ensuring the continuation of hostilities."
- Reuters
