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UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky witness UK's chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves signing a deal in support of Ukraine at Downing Street in London on March 1, 2025. Photo: VCG

After a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump that descended into a row between the two leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a much warmer welcome in Europe, as he arrived in London to attend a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that showed support for Kiev. 

Although the summit's agenda will focus on the Ukraine crisis, Western countries, still shocked over the fierce clash in White House, are reeling not only because of the battlefield and Europe's security future, but also the painful realization that under US' "America First" approach, the transatlantic alliance is under risk of changing from one of shared values to a transactional relationship, Chinese observers said.

Starmer said on Sunday that Britain, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a cease-fire plan to present to the US, which emerged after talks among the four countries' leaders following Zelensky's Oval Office blowout with Trump, AP reported. The prime minister repeated his assertion that American security guarantees will be needed to make it stick. 

The Sunday summit hosted by Starmer includes leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania. The Turkish foreign minister, NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council are set to attend, per the AP report. 

Zelensky arrived in London on Saturday and was greeted by Starmer at 10 Downing Street. Starmer expressed his country's "absolute determination" to stand with Zelensky and achieve "a lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine," The New York Times reported. 

The two sides signed a 2.26 billion pound ($2.84 billion) loan for Ukrainian military supplies that will be repaid using profits from frozen Russian assets, the BBC reported.

In the White House shouting match on Friday local time, Trump lashed out at Zelensky, accusing him of not being "thankful" enough for US military aid. "You're gambling with World War III," Trump told Zelensky 

One US reporter even questioned, "Why don't you wear a suit?" and accused Zelensky of disrespecting the occasion. 

Zelensky was asked to leave the White House without signing a deal with the US that would have given the US significant access to develop Ukraine's valuable minerals.

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who was in the Oval Office during the meeting, compared the Ukrainian leader to an "ex-girlfriend," who "wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward," Waltz said. 

Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies and research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that while the original plan was to discuss the mineral deal, both sides knew it was just a symbolic negotiation. "One could even say it was 'a child's play' - Trump wanted to show at home that he wasn't getting the short end of the stick, while Zelensky, realizing that the agreement couldn't bring any substantial benefits, proactively stirred up the conflict to display a tough attitude," Lü told the Global Times.

Photo: Screenshot from X account of Wall Street Journal