British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Europe is facing an “existential question”, as the continent scrambles to keep up with the Trump administration’s shake-up on Ukraine policy.

A handful of European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday (local time) for an emergency meeting about how to react to US unilateralism with the Ukraine conflict.

Afterwards, Starmer said Europe faced a once-in-a-generation moment to ensure its security and deter further Russian aggression.

“We have to recognise the new era that we are in, not cling hopelessly to the comforts of the past,” he said.

“It’s time for us to take responsibility for our security, for our continent.”

Starmer said Europe needed to step up to the challenge of achieving lasting peace in Ukraine.

“At stake is not just the future of Ukraine, it is an existential question for Europe as a whole,” he said.

At last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Europe to form its own formidable army, warning it could no longer rely on guaranteed support from the US.

The US and Russia have confirmed their delegates will meet in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. No European leaders are invited.

US President Donald Trump’s recent moves — including a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week — have left the impression that his administration is ready to embrace the Kremlin while cold-shouldering many European allies.

Despite belligerent warnings for months ahead of Trump’s re-election, European Union leaders publicly ignored the ominous forebodings and somehow hoped he would stand side by side with Europe.

Trump has long urged the continent to beef up its defences and become less reliant on the firepower of Washington.

A flurry of speeches by Vice President JD Vance and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on their initial visits to Europe last week questioned both Europe’s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles.

French president Emmanuel Macron said their stinging rebukes and threats of non-cooperation in the face of military danger were a shock to the system.

Macron spoke by phone with Trump ahead of the emergency talks.

Leaders from Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark were also at the French talks, along with the European Union and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

French officials said no firm decisions were expected to emerge beyond a show of unity among the leaders.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has slammed the Paris emergency summit on the Ukraine war as a gathering of “frustrated European politicians”, accusing leaders of looking to prolong the conflict.

“Today, supporters of the war, anti-Trump and frustrated European politicians are gathering in Paris to prevent a peace agreement with Ukraine,” he was quoted as saying by Hungarian state news agency MTI, in the Kazakh capital Astana on Monday.

While many EU nations mull whether to contribute troops to a potential force in Ukraine after any peace deal, Starmer said Britain was “ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary”.

“I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way,” he wrote.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was clear there would be no European troops in Ukraine while the war continued.

“The questions about the security architecture that then have to be discussed will be discussed when the time is right,” he said.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said his country would not send troops to Ukraine.

“We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. We will … give logistical and political support to the countries that will possibly want to provide such guarantees in the future, such physical guarantees,” he said.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she could sense “a new, European determination, a seriousness and a drive that are necessary”.

“We must remove the restrictions on the Ukrainians’ use of weapons so that they can actually defend themselves against the Russians without having one arm twisted behind their back,” she said.

“A ceasefire must not lead to Russian rearmament, which is replaced by new Russian attacks.”

-with AAP, Reuters and dpa