European leaders have overwhelmingly voiced support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after his spat with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the White House in front of the media on Friday, but their worry about trans-Atlantic division has grown.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa sent the same message on X after the spat.
"Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone … We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace," they wrote.
Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his likely successor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and some two dozen other European leaders also sent messages of support.
"The scene at the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would ever have to defend Ukraine from the United States," German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas went a step further, saying: "Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge."
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, did not concur when asked about Kallas' message. Instead, he emphasized the US' extremely important role in NATO.
Rutte described the spat between Trump and Zelensky as "unfortunate".
"It's important that President Zelensky finds a way to restore his relationship with the American president and with the senior American leadership team," he told the BBC on Saturday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was one of the few who sided with Trump.
"Strong men make peace, weak men make war," Orban said on X.
Orban and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico sent a letter on Saturday to European Council President Costa, calling for the EU to engage in direct cease-fire talks with Russia.
Marine Le Pen, Macron's main political rival at home, described the spat as a "slap in the face" for Europe.
She said on Saturday that the confrontation underscores Europe's lack of strategic autonomy. But she was also against expanding the EU's defense role, warning that Brussels must not use the moment to "take advantage" and claim greater powers. She added that France should not share its nuclear arsenal with anyone.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who talked to Trump on the phone Saturday night, has called for an immediate summit between the US and European allies "to talk frankly about how we intend to deal with the great challenges of today, starting with Ukraine …"
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said on Saturday that Europe is "going to need to provide more financial assistance to Ukraine and Ireland will need to be part of it".
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on March 6 for a special summit to discuss how to bolster the bloc's defense capability.
Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, described Friday as "disastrous".
"US is burning credibility — bad for us all," he said on X, citing Trump's caving in to Russian demands before talks, the US vote at the UN and Trump calling Zelensky a "dictator".
Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister, said on Saturday that "a deep strategic rethink for Europe is unavoidable".
"There are no simple answers, but neither is there likely to be any way back to where we were," he said.
Ian Bremmer, founder of the Eurasia Group, said the Europeans have to show they are prepared to defend Ukraine without the Americans.
But he expressed that it's "hard to imagine it will be sufficient", referring to Europe's weak military capability and that any catch-up would take a long time.
Dave Keating, a Brussels-based commentator, said the European public can see their leaders exposed.
"Never has it been so clear how owned this continent is by the US … Europe needs a hero who doesn't live in fear of America," he said on X.
The Friday spat also made headlines across Europe.
"We just saw the end of our relationship with Trump," the cover of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed.
"Trump humiliated Zelensky," Spain's newspaper El Pais wrote.
