Macro Rubio, the US Secretary of State, told European leaders that Washington demanded the survival of the continent as part of a new western century.
A year after a contentious address by JD Vance, the US vice-president, to the Munich Security Conference, Mr Rubio recalled the post-Second World War partnership but challenged the Europeans to align with American leadership.
Mr Rubio called for the recovery of a "sane foreign policy" as well as efforts to resist "civilisation erasure". "This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe," he said. "The reason why my friends is because we care deeply."
"We do not want our allies to be weak because that makes us weaker," he said. "An alliance is what we want that is not paralysed by fear, fear of climate change, fear of war, fear of technology, instead we want an alliance that boldly races into the future."
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, called the Vance intervention shock therapy and said some lines had been crossed that could not be forgotten. But she said Europe has undergone an awakening with self-defence becoming a collective commitment. "One for all and all for one. This is Europe's meaning," she said.
With European countries racing to expand defence spending and building up its military, the US Secretary of State called for more.
"We want allies who can defend themselves so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength," Mr Rubio said. "We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilisation and who together with us, are willing and able to defend it."
Mr Rubio accused the UN of failures, including the inability to stop the war in Gaza. He said it took the US to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.
Giving an update on those talks, he said he could predict Russia was committed to a deal. "Here's the good news," he said. "The good news is that the issues that need to be confronted to end this war have been narrowed. That's the good news. The bad news is they've been narrowed to the hardest questions to answer, and work remains to be done on that front."
Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, told the meeting that he welcomed signs that Europe was talking directly to Russia as the US-led ceasefire talks progressed.
“Europe should not be on the menu, but should be the table, but now we are seeing that Europe has come up with the courage to talk with Russia,” he said. “This is good and we support this but we think that we should not have dialogue for dialogue's sake. I think Europe should come up with new ideas and your plans on how to resolve this issue.”
Mr Wang said China and Europe should not be rivals or competitors after half a century of trade ties and other contacts. At the same time, he distanced Beijing from involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
“China is not a party directly involved,” he said. “We don't have the final say. What we are doing is to promote talks for peace.”
Faced with the US hostility to multilateralism, China has sought to boost its role across the international institutions. The situation gives China a set of points to promote.
“We have been sending our message that we want to see and the more peaceful the world is, the stronger multilateralism gets, the more effective global governance becomes," Mr Wang said.
"In reforming and improving global governance, the pressing task is to stop conflict and promote peace. In Gaza, the realisation of a ceasefire and reconstruction will require our remitting efforts to implement the two-state solution and restore justice to the Palestinian people is the unshakable responsibility of the international community.
“The situation in Iran has a direct impact on peace in the Middle East, relevant parties should act with prudence. In Venezuela, the red line of international rule of law must not be crossed under the principle of state sovereignty must be upheld.”
He warned that the ghost of militarism still haunts Japan and said the country retains ambitions over Taiwan.
