German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to stand with Europe in defending Ukraine. 

“Stay with us and stay with the Europeans,” Merz said at the recovery conference for Ukraine in Rome. “We are looking for a stable political order in this world. Stay with us on this side and on this page of our common history.”

Trump’s willingness to continue U.S. support for Ukraine has been in question in recent weeks and months, particularly as his administration has dithered on supporting a substantial new sanctions bill targeting Russia under consideration in the U.S. Senate. At the beginning of July, the Pentagon halted shipments of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine.

This week, however, Senate leaders said Trump was ready to throw his support behind the sanction package and the U.S. resumed paused weapons deliveries. That has raised hopes in Europe that the Trump administration’s support for Ukraine has grown more steadfast amid Russia’s escalating bombardment of Ukraine.

In his comments Thursday, Merz also criticized Slovakia and its prime minister for holding back passage of an 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia. Under Prime Minister Robert Fico, who hails from the country’s leftist-populist Smer party, EU and NATO member Slovakia has broken ranks with Western allies on Ukraine, including by halting military aid to Kyiv amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

“I urgently ask Slovakia and its prime minister to give up the resistance and to free the way” for the sanctions package, said Merz. The chancellor also reiterated German support for Ukraine’s path to EU membership.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference this week in Rome has drawn international leaders to make commitments on the embattled country’s reconstruction.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of the European Flagship Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine at the conference on Thursday.