Zelensky receives comfort in London from a Europe in shock

LondonIn an exercise of diplomatic tightrope walking worthy of the greatest British or Vatican tradition, and with a well-orchestrated choreography, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, received Volodymyr Zelensky this Saturday afternoon. A cordiality and affection for the Ukrainian leader that contrasts like black and white with the ambush who suffered this Friday in the Oval Office of the White House, at the hands of Donald Trump and JD Vance, President and Vice President of the United States.

Instead of waiting for him at the threshold of number 10, Starmer went to look for him at the end of the alley, where he had parked the car in which he was travelling. They met halfway, she hugged him effusively and, stopping, the premier He pointed with his left hand towards Whitehall Avenue, where a couple of hundred people had welcomed him with shouts and applause.

Then, inside the official residence, Starmer once again expressed the United Kingdom's "unconditional support" in Ukraine. With television cameras as witness, the premier Starmer, who thus risks distancing himself from Trump, has reminded Zelensky: "We both want to achieve a lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security, so important for Ukraine, so important for Europe and so important for the United Kingdom." In another implicit challenge to Trump, King Charles III will receive Zelensky this Sunday, although it has been at the request of the Ukrainian president himself, and with the approval of the British government.

On Thursday, in Washington, where Starmer traveled to extract from Trump guarantees of peace for Ukraine after a hypothetical ceasefire - it did not go ahead - and as a lubricant, and knowing the egotistical character of the magnate, the premier He also handed him an invitation for a second state visit to the United Kingdom, during which the Republican will be showered with all the pomp and circumstance that the British monarchy is capable of displaying.

Zelensky, for his part, was grateful that the king accepted the request for an audience and commented: "I want to thank the people of the United Kingdom for their great support since the beginning of this war. In Ukraine we are very happy to have such important strategic partners." In the few minutes in which there were cameras, the elephant in the room was Donald Trump, who on Friday accused Zelensky of "playing with World War IIIHowever, his name was never mentioned.

The meeting between Starmer and Zelensky lasted an hour and a half. He took out a loan of 2.73 billion euros to improve the country's defences. And in an unusual gesture, the premier accompanied him to the car and hugged him warmly again. Outside, the cries of support for the Ukrainian president continued.

Zelensky insists on security guarantees

At noon, after landing on British soil, Zelensky had published a statement to X in which he insisted on both the gratitude to "the American nation" for its support during the three years of war and on the need to obtain sufficient "security guarantees" to make a "just and lasting peace" possible. "Our situation is difficult, but we cannot stop fighting without guarantees that Putin will not return tomorrow," he stressed. And he added: "We are ready to sign the agreement on minerals, which will be the first step towards security guarantees." These are safeguards on which he wants to know "the American role: what type, what volume and when."

This approach, which is shared by Kiev's European allies with the exception of Viktor Orbán's Hungary and Robert Fico's Slovakia, was ridiculed by Trump in the White House meeting. "Here you are, you say, 'I don't want a ceasefire, I don't want a ceasefire.' The problem is that I have empowered you to be tough, and I don't think you will be tough without the United States," he once told him.

In light of Friday's historic events in Washington, diplomatic efforts The French President Emmanuel Macron and the British Prime Minister, both travelling to the United States during the week to obtain security guarantees for Kiev, seem to be wasted opportunities. Europe and Ukraine were wondering yesterday whether they had definitively lost the defensive umbrella of the United States, which prefers to embrace the autocrat Putin. So much so that the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said on Friday: "The free world needs a new leader."

Much more contemplative with Trump has been the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte. Speaking on the BBC on Saturday, he did not want to evaluate Kallas' comment, but he did report that he spoke with Zelensky shortly after the booing at the White House and urged him to "find a way to restore relations." Rutte, who has ignored Trump's arrogant attitude, has spoken of "the need to maintain unity between Europe and the United States."

Starmer, bridge between Brussels, Kiev and Washington

Despite the warm welcome in London, the Ukrainian president has arrived in a British capital and a European continent in a state of shock, once the different foreign ministries and Brussels have seen how The world order built since 1945 The crisis has been blown up in the five weeks since Trump returned to the White House.

And the man who wants to help put it back together is Starmer, who in the next few hours will try to act as a bridge between Kiev, Brussels and Washington. Before Friday's clash, Starmer had already called a meeting with European leaders for Sunday to continue contacts to build a common European strategy to offer security in Kiev after a hypothetical peace agreement with Moscow.

But after the assault suffered by Zelensky in Washington, the premier The US must first try to rebuild the bridges between Kiev and Washington. Suddenly, British diplomacy is once again gaining global relevance and, paradoxically, the very Brexit that has undermined it could now favour the role of mediator, because Trump has Brussels between his eyes. The unpredictability of the character, added to the ideological and vengeful aggressiveness shown by Vance, may make a reasonable solution impossible for all the actors. At the moment, the only ones who are enjoying it are the Russians. According to the American press, the United States would consider withdrawing all American aid for the war effort. And in Washington, this Saturday, all the prominent voices of the Republicans have closed ranks with the president.

The office of the premier has reported that on Friday evening Starmer spoke with Trump and Zelensky. The Briton has been one of the few European leaders who did not publicly express his support for Zelensky after the Oval Office clash. In order not to alienate Trump by siding with the leaders of the European Union and thus be able to continue to play the role of bridge to which he has been forced by circumstances and a history of special relations between the United Kingdom and Washington. Macron has also spoken with them.

What can Europe really do?

Alastair Campbell, spin doctor of Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, present at a meeting of the premier with Putin, "which went very badly, but not nearly as badly" as the one in the Oval Office, he also comments that "the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and other countries must take a step forward." In this sense, he considers that the Starmer summit "is very important." And he points to the possibility that "someone will have to negotiate, Starmer or Macron, so that [Zelenski and Trump] sit in the same room again."

Rishi Sunak's former Foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt, was confident on Saturday on the BBC that "there is still a small hope" of turning the situation around. He assured that "President Trump wants an agreement and needs Zelenski to be part of it": "He does not want to withdraw from Ukraine and abandon it to the Russians just as the United States abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban." Hunt's reasoning is that the geostrategic implications of abandoning Ukraine "would also be very negative for the United States." "What would be the consequences if China decided to occupy Taiwan? Could it provoke an even bigger crisis in Asia," he argues.

This would be the most optimistic version. But there are also pessimists. For example, that of the analyst and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart: neither Macron nor Starmer managed to weaken Trump with the guarantees before Zelensky went on Friday and "now we find ourselves with the worst possible scenario and it seems increasingly likely." In short, it implies Trump maintaining "his current position and the withdrawal of US support for Ukraine and the possibility that he prohibits European countries from selling or transferring US weapons to Kiev." From there, Stewart continues, Russia could expand its territory. "It is not impossible that Putin could reach Kiev and even Moldova," he concludes. Starmer, Zelensky, Macron, Sánchez, Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders will discuss all of this in the coming hours.