World leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to show their continuing support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the “absolute heroism of our people”.
Thirteen leaders took an overnight train for a summit with Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital. They included the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb. Twenty-four joined online.
The coordinated Europe-led show of solidarity came after a torrid week, in which Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war against Russia, described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, and made it clear Europe would have to enforce and pay for any future peace settlement.
There was strong collective pushback against the US president’s upside down version of recent history and a consensus that Ukraine had to take part in negotiations over its future. “The war is against Ukraine. So Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy told the visiting leaders, saying Europe had to be there, too. He added: “Peace can’t be declared or announced.”
Ukraine’s security is Europe’s security. pic.twitter.com/Ofq7eeMs9n
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) February 24, 2025
US and Russian negotiators are due to hold a second round of talks soon, after a meeting last week in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The White House has said the war could end “this week” – raising fears that a quick US-Russia deal will echo Vladimir Putin’s demands that Ukraine cede territory and capitulate.
At least seven European countries announced significant new packages of economic and military support to Kyiv on Monday, with von der Leyen promising a €3.5bn (£2.9bn) payment. The Trump administration has indicated that US weapons deliveries will probably stop and has said Ukraine will have to repay any future military assistance at double the actual price.
Several EU leaders acknowledged the continent had to spend more on its own security and – as the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, put it – “do more and talk less”. Lithuania’s defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said Trump’s repeated demand for greater spending from fellow Nato member states was a necessary but “painful kick”.
She added that the “unpleasant” events of the last week, when Trump repeated Kremlin talking points and apparently dumped Ukraine as an ally, had changed the psychology of European decision-making. “When you feel your own arse is on fire, you move faster,” she said.
There was also overwhelming support for Ukraine’s EU membership and for its attempts to join Nato. The country could join the EU before 2030, von der Leyen said, if Kyiv continued its reforms at their current speed and quality.
Sitting next to the Ukrainian president, Stubb, the Finnish president, said it was not up to Russia to determine which alliances Kyiv joined, or the shape of the European security order. “Putin lost this war. We will see Ukraine in Europe and in Nato,” he said.
Justin Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s support “until the war is over and Ukraine wins”.
Hours after world leaders arrived, air raid sirens rang out across the capital. Early on Sunday, Russia carried out its biggest aerial raid since its 24 February 2022 all-out attack, sending 267 drones across Ukraine’s border. At least four people were killed in strikes across the country.
On Monday, Zelenskyy, his wife, Olena, and prime ministers and presidents laid candles at a popular memorial in the centre of Kyiv to soldiers and civilians killed in Russia’s war. Afterwards, politicians posed for a symbolic group photo on the steps of the Maidan, Kyiv’s independence square and a symbol of the country’s sovereignty.
“We are in Kyiv today, because Ukraine is Europe,” von der Leyen posted on X. “In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny.”
Zelenskyy wrote in his anniversary address: “Three years of absolute heroism by our people. Eternal gratitude to the fallen heroes.”
Keir Starmer said the UK supported a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”, adding that: “We face a once-in-a-generation moment for our collective security and values.” The British prime minister has said UK troops could be sent to Ukraine as part of a possible peacekeeping contingent, on condition the US provided a “backstop”. “Russia does not hold all the cards in this war,” Starmer told Zelenskyy by video.
The White House has categorically ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine and it is unclear what a backstop means. The Labour MP Alex Sobel said Nato countries could provide air support and impose a no-fly zone – an idea proposed in 2022. Starmer will hold talks with Trump in Washington on Thursday.
On Monday, Boris Johnson praised Starmer’s willingness to deploy Britain’s armed forces. “Keir Starmer said something very brave and right,” Johnson said while speaking at the Yes international conference in Kyiv, organised by the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk. Troops would be “anathema” to Putin and therefore the right thing to do, he said.
Johnson also denounced the “nightmare of Orwellian language” in the US, and the “absolutely rubbish” claim that Ukraine attacked Russia first. He said Zelenskky should sign a $500bn (£395bn) minerals deal with the US, arguing this would give the White House a direct stake in protecting Ukraine and its own business interests. Zelenskky has so far resisted and on Sunday said he did not “recognise” the $500bn figure.
“Trump wants to show something to his Ukraine-sceptic Republican base,” Johnson said. He added: “The tragedy is that he [Trump] has been listening for too long to [the conservative political commentator] Tucker Carlson, who has been taking the Kremlin line. The deal is well worth the price for Ukraine.”
