The Russian invasion The world’s response

“Can we in Europe defend ourselves? The answer is no”

Europe cannot defend itself on its own. That’s what Friedrich Merz, who is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor, said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine ahead of today’s summit in London.

That’s why Merz wants to do everything he can to convince Donald Trump that the US has a vested interest in being an active player in Europe.

– But we could also end up in a truly terrible scenario with enormous challenges where we ourselves have to take on the defense of Europe. Can we do it? The answer is no. Do we want to achieve that soon? And do we have to? Yes, obviously.

Other heads of government are playing down the importance of the United States.

“Europe is a giant that has woken up,” says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to The Sunday Times.

He finds it absurd that “500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians.”

Britons skeptical of new Trump visit: "Bully"

Just a few hours before Volodymyr Zelenskyj was berated in the White House on Friday, Donald Trump was invited to a state visit to the UK on behalf of King Charles. He immediately accepted - but some Britons are demanding that the visit be postponed until the US and the UK agree on Ukraine, writes the BBC.

Stephen Gethins, foreign policy spokesman for the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), believes that Trump acted grotesquely and like a bully towards Zelenskyj.

- Given that, I can't see how a state visit can be carried out, he says.

Even before the clash between Trump and Zelenskyj, many were skeptical of Trump's visit, writes The Guardian. Londoner Joanna Chin tells the newspaper that she “can’t stand the man,” but that Britain cannot afford to sabotage its relationship with the United States.

– Will I be able to see him? No.

Analysis: A finely tuned dance of words and actions in London

In diplomacy, words matter a lot – and when 18 European heads of government meet today for a Ukraine summit in London, “a finely tuned dance of words and actions awaits,” writes the BBC’s Lyse Doucet in an analysis, referring to the timing of Trump and Zelensky’s argument the other day.

However, The Times columnist Matthew Syed is tired of European leaders being too finely tuned towards Trump.

“Wake up, Keir. Smell the coffee, Emmanuel. Hang in there, Friedrich,” he writes.

He thinks the meeting in the White House spoke volumes, as did the concessions that Canada and Colombia have already made when threatened by Trump. It doesn't work, according to Syed.

"Any concessions to this tyrant only encourage madness," he writes.

Syed calls for two things. Firm support for Ukraine and for the free world to unite in a tight alliance that does not give Trump any more opportunities to isolate an individual head of government. This means that no more leaders are allowed to go to the Oval Office on their own with their hats in their hands, he writes.

TV4's Rolf Porseryd believes that today's summit could push NATO onto a new path, where the US will have a completely different role than it does today. 

Musk shares X post: "Time to leave NATO and the UN"

Donald Trump's gunfighter Elon Musk takes a public stand in favor of the US leaving NATO, reports the Kyiv Independent and Newsweek. On Sunday night, Musk shared a post on X from right-wing debater Gunther Eagleman in which the latter briefly and concisely writes "It's time to leave NATO and the UN".

"I agree", writes Musk.

The position comes a few weeks after a number of Republicans demanded that the US leave the UN because the organization is "not in line with Donald Trump's 'America first' agenda". On X, the tech billionaire also accuses Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyj of opposing the peace talks.

"It's cruel and inhumane."

Mike Waltz: Zelensky is like a pissed-off ex-girlfriend

It is a "total lie" that the fight in the White House was an attack that the Trump administration planned to carry out in advance against Volodymyr Zelensky. This is what White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CNN, according to Reuters.

He says that Zelensky is not ready to make peace with Russia and that the Ukrainian president did not have "good intentions" during the meeting.

Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance suggested to Zelensky that an end to the war should be achieved through diplomacy. Zelensky then pointed out that after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, attempts were made to stop Russia's advance through diplomacy. Russia violated that agreement, among other things, with the full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.

Mike Waltz likens Zelenskyj to an “ex-girlfriend who wants to argue about things you said nine years ago, instead of taking the relationship further”.