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European leaders scrambled on Sunday to salvage Ukraine\u2019s relationship with the United States, after a bitter rupture<\/a> last week between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump. They pledged to assemble a European \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d to develop a plan for ending Ukraine\u2019s war with Russia, which they hope could win the backing of a skeptical Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n Gathering in London at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, the leaders vowed to bolster support for Ukraine. But they also expressed hope that Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump could repair their breach, underscoring Europe\u2019s reluctance to cast off a trans-Atlantic alliance that has kept the peace for 80 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to bridge this,\u201d Mr. Starmer said on Sunday to the BBC before the leaders began arriving at Lancaster House, near Buckingham Palace. \u201cWe have to find a way where we can all work together.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Starmer said he believed that despite Mr. Trump\u2019s anger toward Mr. Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, the president was committed to a lasting peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. He said Britain and France, working with other European countries<\/a>, would develop their own plan with Mr. Zelensky.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Details of the plan were sketchy, but Mr. Starmer suggested that the Europeans could use it as a basis to persuade Mr. Trump to commit to American security guarantees. Britain and France have already pledged to contribute troops to a peacekeeping force and are trying to enlist other countries across Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a step in the right direction,\u201d Mr. Starmer said, though he added that \u201cthis is a moment of real fragility in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His comments captured the dilemma confronting Europe two weeks after Mr. Trump\u2019s surprise overture to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Neither Europe nor Ukraine currently have seats at the table in a potential Trump-brokered peace deal. Nor has Mr. Trump agreed to give security assurances to prevent Russia from launching another invasion of its neighbor.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s acrimonious exchange with Mr. Zelensky deepened the trans-Atlantic divide. \u201cNobody wants to see that,\u201d said Mr. Starmer, who had his own, much smoother meeting with Mr. Trump a day earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The prime minister has tried to mediate between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump. Speaking to both men by phone after their clash, he floated the idea of Mr. Zelensky returning to the White House on Friday evening to mend fences with the president, according to a senior British official.<\/p>\n Both leaders demurred, saying it would be better to let tempers cool and the air to clear, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Still, Mr. Zelensky himself has also expressed a belief that his rift with Mr. Trump was not irreparable.<\/p>\n On Sunday in London, Europe wrapped Mr. Zelensky in a warm embrace. He won expressions of support from the 18 assembled leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy. After meeting them, he was scheduled to visit King Charles III at his country estate, Sandringham, northeast of London.<\/p>\n Yet behind the carefully choreographed show of solidarity, there was a recognition that keeping the United States on board remains critical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cStarmer has two goals,\u201d said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. \u201cBuild an offer with the Ukrainians and Europeans that keeps the U.S. positively engaged in Ukraine\u2019s security, while simultaneously preparing for a worst-case scenario where that may not prove possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That will require European countries to shoulder a much heavier burden in defending the continent\u2019s defense. Mr. Starmer is expected to push fellow European leaders to follow Britain in bolstering its military spending.<\/p>\n Last week, the British government announced that its defense budget would reach 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2027 and 3 percent within a decade. On Saturday, after meeting Mr. Zelensky at 10 Downing Street, Mr. Starmer gave Ukraine a loan of 2.26 billion pounds (about $2.8 billion) to buy additional military hardware.<\/p>\n The summit meeting has thrust Mr. Starmer into an unaccustomed place for a British prime minister: at the heart of Europe during a crisis. More than eight years after the country voted to leave the European Union, the rapidly changing security landscape is driving Britain closer to the continent.<\/p>\n