There has been a strong show of support for Ukraine from yesterday’s defence summit in London – but can these words be put into action by European leaders?

European leaders and NATO allies gathered in London yesterday to try to pick up the pieces after a shattering encounter in the Oval Office between US President Donald Trump and his Ukranian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Commitments were made to increase defence spending to defend borders against Russian aggression, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was necessary to ensure the security of every nation attending.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe needed to turn Ukraine “into a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders".

Europeans Leaders prepare to hold a plenary meeting at a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2, 2025. photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News

Defence expert at the University of Bath and former NATO analyst Patrick Bury told Newstalk Breakfast that it is “pretty good news” out of the summit.

“It sounds like there’s more appetite now for action rather than just talking in Europe and that’s really required,” he said.

Mr Bury said that while Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy could have been handled more diplomatically, his tactics have “in one way” been effective.

“We’ve basically free ridden off the back of the US security guarantee and their investment in their military for 80 odd years,” he said.

“You know, he’s not the first President to say that Europe needs to step up – and to be fair, it didn’t happen quick enough.

“But on the other hand, the way he’s gone about the latest way of things in sort of the Munich Security Conference and then the fallout with Zelenskyy has left people incredibly worried, I think that’s really why you’re seeing a step up .

"So, there’s probably a balance to be struck, I’m not sure if [Trump] has got that balance quite right.”

'Four-point plan'

Mr Bury outlined what he saw as the main points from yesterday’s summit.

“We had this four-point plan - the first one is essentially that the aid to Ukraine [and] sanctions on Russia stay in place from European powers while this goes on,” he said.

“The second one is that Ukraine must be at the table if it’s going to be a secure and lasting peace.

“The third is that the European powers need to basically ramp up their defence spending to deter Russian aggression if they go again."

According to Mr Bury, the fourth point made was that “smaller core element of the European powers” need to deploy a reassurance force in a “coalition of the willing”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives to Securing our Future Summit on Ukraine and European security at Lancaster House in London, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

“Now, where Trump comes into this is, that reassurance force, when the chips are down, it needs the US extended nuclear deterrent over it,” he said.

“So that if Putin decided to go again, he would realise that the US had [Ukraine’s] back at the nuclear level.

“Otherwise, [Putin] can use his overmatching nuclear missiles to make France and the UK or other European powers back down, is my reading of it.”

Mr Bury said that he believes Trump and Zelenskyy will work things out – but that the plan will have to be sold to Trump.

He said employing the threat of the US’s nuclear arsenal would cost America “very little” but would significantly bolster Ukraine.

Main image: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) as he arrives to attend a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2, 2025. photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News.