KYIV, July 18 - Leaders from across Europe expressed support for Ukraine and concern about the direction of the United States on Thursday at a security-focused summit clouded by worries about whether the U.S. will remain a reliable ally if Donald Trump wins a second presidency, The Associated Press reported.

Newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed around 45 heads of government to a grandiose English country mansion to discuss migration, energy security and the threat from Russia as he seeks to restore relations between the U.K. and its European Union neighbors four years after their acrimonious divorce.

The venue for the European Political Community summit, Blenheim Palace, was the birthplace of Britain’s World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Starmer said the leaders were meeting “as a new storm gathers over our continent.”

“Our first task here today is to confirm our steadfast support for Ukraine, to unite once again behind those values that we cherish and to say we will face down aggression on this continent together,” Starmer said, adding that the threat from Russia “reaches right across Europe.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a key guest at the meeting, aimed at shoring up Europe’s support for his country’s defense and discussing ways to defend democracy against cyberattacks, disinformation and sabotage that Ukraine’s allies blame on Moscow.

Zelenskyy is due to address a meeting of Starmer’s Cabinet on Friday, a rarity for a foreign leader, as Starmer seeks to show that his Labour Party government will maintain the support to Kyiv begun under his Conservative predecessors.

Others making the trip to Blenheim Palace, a Baroque country mansion 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of London, included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

A brainchild of Macron, the EPC was established in 2022 as a forum for countries both inside and outside the 27-nation EU after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine shattered Europe’s sense of security. The next three summits are due to be held in Hungary, Albania and Denmark.

Many thoughts strayed to the U.S., where the weekend assassination attempt on Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, underscored how febrile and polarized politics has become before the Nov. 5 election.

Trump’s skepticism about NATO has long worried U.S. allies. Trump’s choice of Sen. JD Vance, an opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, as vice presidential running mate has heightened concerns.

“European countries must stand on their own legs more than ever,” Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof said.

That sentiment was echoed by several other leaders, but not by Hungary’s pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has riled other EU nations with a series of rogue meetings with foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, about Ukraine.

Orbán said a Trump victory would be “the best news for everybody, because he’s a man of the people.”

Zelenskyy appeared to refer to Orbán when he urged European nations to remain united.

“If someone wants to make some trips to the capital of war to talk and perhaps promise something against our common interests, or to the expense of Ukraine or other countries, then why should we consider such a person?” Zelenskyy said. “The EU and NATO can also address all their issues without this one individual.” (ap/ez)