UK’s Starmer announces ‘coalition of the willing’ to deploy troops in Ukraine

France’s Macron seeks a temporary truce to send soldiers in while it’s safe

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the UK and France are ready to lead a “coalition of the willing” to provide military support to Ukraine, including the deployment of troops and aircraft, aiming to secure Kiev’s positions once a peace deal with Moscow has been reached.

During an emergency summit in London on Sunday, following Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s disastrous trip to Washington, Starmer emphasized the necessity for the EU and other sponsors to step up and take a leading role in supporting Kiev. While acknowledging that some nations have little to contribute, he insisted that those willing should act with urgency.

“Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others,” Starmer told the press.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that European troops would only be deployed once the situation on the ground is safe for them. He proposed a temporary month-long “truce in the air, on the seas, and on energy infrastructure” – an idea that Moscow had previously denounced as a Western ploy to rearm and bolster Kiev.

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“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” Macron said in an interview with Le Figaro. “The question is how can we use this time to try to get a truce accessible, with negotiations that will take several weeks, and then, when the peace is signed, a deployment.”

Moscow has repeatedly ruled out temporary ceasefires similar to the failed Minsk agreements, insisting on a permanent, legally binding deal that addresses the root causes of the conflict. The Minsk ceasefire, which was ostensibly intended to freeze the conflict between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, was in fact only “an attempt to give Ukraine time” to build up its strength, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted in 2022.

The summit was attended by several European leaders, including Starmer, Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and others, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

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Trudeau did not rule out potentially deploying troops to Ukraine, saying that Ottawa “has looked at the ways it can best help, and as I’ve said a few days ago, everything’s on the table.”

However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that there was still no single specific plan for troop deployment and stressed that “the presence of Italian troops in Ukraine has never been on the agenda.”

Tusk noted that the leaders had failed to propose a systematic, common position to shape future security guarantees for Ukraine or “a concrete plan for negotiations” with Russia.

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“We all get a sense at this moment that no one has a plan for it, and that sense of chaos, makeshift approach … sometimes sparks emotions like we have seen in that unseemly spectacle in Washington a few days ago, which we all would rather avoid,” Tusk said.

Moscow has strongly opposed the deployment of unauthorized foreign troops to Ukraine, warning that without a UN mandate, they would be considered legitimate targets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the idea of deploying foreign troops to Ukraine – pushed primarily by France and Britain – is meant to “further fuel the conflict and stop any attempts to cool it down.” The Russian Foreign Ministry also accused the EU and UK of embarking “on a path of militarism.”