European leaders gather to discuss Ukraine’s future if Trump wins a second presidency

Leaders from across Europe expressed support for Ukraine and concern about the direction of the United States on July 18 at a security-focused summit clouded by worries about whether the U.S. will remain a reliable ally if Donald Trump wins a second presidency.

Newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed some 45 heads of government to a grandiose English country mansion to discuss migration, energy security, and the threat from Russia as he seeks to restore relations between the U.K. and its European Union neighbors four years after their acrimonious divorce.

The venue for the European Political Community gathering, Blenheim Palace, was the birthplace of Britain’s World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Mr. Starmer said the leaders were gathering “as a new storm gathers over our continent.”

“Our first task here today is to confirm our steadfast support for Ukraine, to unite once again behind those values that we cherish and to say we will face down aggression on this continent together,” Mr. Starmer said, adding that the threat from Russia “reaches right across Europe.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a key guest at the meeting, aimed at shoring up Europe’s support for his country’s defense and discussing ways to defend democracy. The U.K. accuses Moscow of seeking to undermine European democracies with cyberattacks, disinformation, and sabotage.

Others making the trip to Blenheim Palace, a Baroque country mansion 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of London, included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen stayed away as she fought to secure a second term as European Commission president from lawmakers in the European Parliament, which she received. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also a no-show.

The meeting is the fourth for the EPC group, a brainchild of Mr. Macron. It was established in 2022 as a forum for countries both inside and outside the 27-nation EU after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine shattered Europe’s sense of security. Previous meetings of the group have been held in the Czech capital, Prague; Chisinau, Moldova; and Granada, Spain.

Mr. Starmer said the U.K. plans to take a more active role on the world stage, especially when it comes to Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion and to people-smuggling gangs organizing irregular migration.

He told fellow leaders that under his government the U.K. would be “a friend and a partner, ready to work with you – not part of the European Union, but very much part of Europe. Not focused on the differences between us, but on the values that we share.”

Mr. Starmer’s center-left government aims to rebuild ties with the EU strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit divorce terms. A key priority is a new U.K.-EU security pact that Mr. Starmer hopes to strike soon.

“We are confident that a new chapter will be opened with the U.K.,” European Council President Charles Michel said as he arrived.

The U.K. plans to work more closely with the European police agency Europol against people smuggling, part of measures to beef up border security following Mr. Starmer’s decision to scrap the Conservatives’ contentious and unrealized plan to send migrants arriving in the U.K. by boat on a one-way trip to Rwanda.

Mr. Starmer urged European nations to cooperate against “the vile trade of people smuggling.”

“Let’s be frank – ‘challenge’ is the wrong word,” he said. “It is now, I think, a crisis. We must combine our resources, share intelligence, share tactics, shut down the smuggling routes, and smash the gangs.”

When Britain agreed earlier this year to hold the one-day summit, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak was prime minister. His defeat in a July 4 election means it’s Mr. Starmer who welcomed leaders to Blenheim Palace. Delegates were being treated to full British hospitality, including strawberries with cream, and a reception hosted by King Charles III.

“It’s an incredibly useful occasion for Keir Starmer, because it gives him the chance to get to know a lot of European leaders,” said Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Government think tank. “It’s like Rishi Sunak organized a dating party for him.”

Many thoughts strayed to the U.S., where the weekend assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, underscored how febrile and polarized politics has become ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Mr. Trump’s skepticism about NATO has long worried U.S. allies. Mr. Trump’s choice of Sen. JD Vance, an opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, as vice presidential running mate has heightened concerns.

“European countries must stand on their own legs more than ever,” said Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

That sentiment was echoed by several other leaders, but not by Hungary’s pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has riled other EU nations with a series of rogue meetings with foreign leaders about Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Orbán said a Mr. Trump victory would be “the best news for everybody, because he’s a man of the people.”

This story was reported by The Associated Press.