British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced yesterday that European leaders had agreed to draft a Ukraine peace plan to present to the United States, a crucial step toward securing Washington’s security guarantees that Kyiv deems essential to deter Russia.

At a summit in London, held just two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed with US President Donald Trump and abruptly ended his visit to Washington, European leaders reaffirmed their strong support for Ukraine and pledged to increase their assistance.

The leaders also agreed on the need to boost defence spending to demonstrate to Trump that Europe can defend itself. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the EU could ease debt restrictions to facilitate this effort.