(LONDON) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday to meet with European leaders as his nation seeks to weather continued attacks from Russia and growing political pressure from President Donald Trump's administration in the U.S.
The Ukrainian president's latest visit to Brussels comes at a difficult moment for his nation, the White House having announced an open-ended pause on all military aid and intelligence sharing in a bid to force Kyiv into negotiating a peace deal with Russia to end Moscow's three-year-old invasion.
The freeze came after a tumultuous meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump in the Oval Office last week, which descended into a shouting match and ended with the Ukrainian president's team being asked to leave.
Zelenskyy this week released a statement calling the meeting "regrettable," saying he is ready to engage in the U.S.-facilitated peace process and sign a controversial minerals sharing deal with the U.S.
Zelenskyy was welcomed to the European Council building in the Belgian capital on Thursday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
"We discussed strengthening the defense capabilities of Ukraine and the whole of Europe," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram of his meeting with von der Leyen and Costa.
"Air defense, weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, timely supplies, strengthening the Ukrainian defense industry, negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU, the need to increase sanctions pressure on Russia and counteract the circumvention of sanctions -- all this was among our topics today," he wrote.
"Thank you for your leadership in discussing increasing Europe's defense capabilities and strengthening Ukraine, for all your support on the path to a just and sustainable peace. It is very important that Ukrainians are not alone. We feel it and know it."
"Europe faces a clear and present danger," von der Leyen said in a post to X as Zelenskyy arrived. "We must be able to defend ourselves and put Ukraine in a position of strength."
Zelenskyy will speak at a special meeting of the European Council and is expected to hold meetings with European leaders on defense matters.
European leaders have rallied to Zelenskyy's defense in the face of U.S. pressure, while simultaneously warning that peace in Ukraine is not possible without American backing. The U.K. and France have said they will work with Kyiv to present a peace deal to Trump.
European allies have been rattled by the opening months of Trump's second term, which have been characterized by efforts to undermine Zelenskyy's legitimacy, alignment with Russian narratives about the war and criticism of Europe's ability to ensure security on the continent.
Trump and his officials have been reluctant to offer any security guarantees to Kyiv as part of a peace deal with Russia -- an element Zelenskyy and his European partners say is vital to the success of any accord.
On Thursday, Trump's Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg said a signed minerals deal would be a "de facto security guarantee" for Kyiv. "If the United States has direct economic interest in Ukraine, then the United States has a direct invested interest to protect its economic interest as well," he said during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations.
As to the intelligence sharing freeze, Kellogg said it was "a pause, not an end." Trump's envoy acknowledged it was "important" if a military loses intelligence support, adding, "We know that, but that's one of the reasons why it was done."
Asked whether the tactic was unfairly extractive of Ukraine, Kellogg replied, "Very candidly, they brought it on themselves," referring to the dramatic Oval Office meeting last week.
European nations announced fresh tranches of assistance for Ukraine ahead of Zelenskyy's arrival in Brussels.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced that his nation would provide $3.8 billion in funding in 2026, $700 million of which is earmarked for drone development.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said his nation would ensure a "significant increase" in aid for Ukraine, while Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz announced another $215 million in aid from Warsaw.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, meanwhile, said on France Inter that his nation was sharing intelligence resources with Ukraine following the U.S. freeze.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova framed Thursday's meeting as an impediment to peace.
"The EU is torpedoing any preconditions for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine," Zakharova said, as quoted by the state-run Tass news agency.
ABC News' Guy Davies and Oleksiy Pshemyskiy contributed to this report.
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