British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a “coalition of the willing” would join hands to draw up a ceasefire plan to end the Ukraine war.
Starmer also proposed the idea to the United States, which had denied getting involved in the negotiations until Zelensky was ready to sign the mineral agreement and also willing to publicly apologise in front of the camera to the United States public for disrespecting the Oval Office.
Despite the feud in the US, Zelensky was openly welcomed by the EU states, who also assured to support Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia.
Both Trump and US Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III.”
What is the ‘coalition of the willing’? Can it prevent the bloodshed and realistically help Ukraine without US backing?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said participants have agreed to some common agendas after their summit in London.
European nations are open to joining forces and devising a peace plan for Ukraine to present to the US.
“This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act, time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,” Starmer said.
Neglecting the US approach to solve the issue on their own, it said any solution must uphold the territorial sovereignty and Ukraine cannot be left out of negotiations.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump had decided to keep Zelensky out of peace talks over his reluctance to end the war with Russia. The US has now made it clear that they were not supplying any aid to Ukraine for its military operations against Russia.
However, Starmer and other European leaders pledged to continue the flow of military aid to Ukraine.
Starmer further promised to boost Ukraine’s military capability and said, “In the event of a peace deal, we will keep boosting Ukraine’s defensive capabilities to deter any future invasions.”
Starmer also announced a new 1.6-billion-pound ($2bn) deal with Ukraine on Sunday, which will allow Kyiv to spend the amount in export finance on 5,000 air defence missiles.
Unlike NATO or the EU, the coalition of the willing is a group of countries that are willing to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. This does not mean that they have pledged to replace Ukrainian armed forces from the battlefield; rather, it aims to provide aid to them.
Primarily, the majority of the countries in this coalition are EU nations that have criticised Russia for its military operations in Ukraine since 2022.
The list of potential countries in this group includes the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, who are primarily going to provide military aid, while the other smaller and militarily incompetent nations are ready to extend their diplomatic support to Ukraine.
The announcement was “obviously because of what happened in the White House on Friday,” Timothy Ash, an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, told reporters. “Europe needed to step up in terms of the peace process, and it did.”
The idea of creating a “coalition of the willing” to end the conflict prevailing between two nations or between two factions is not new. The first time such an alliance was formed was in 1999, when Australia led the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) under a United Nations mandate, including the UK and New Zealand, landing in East Timor.
In 2003, 30 countries in some capacity provided support to former US President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, which did not have a UN mandate.
These countries contributed to the invasion forces, which totalled about 160,000 soldiers. The UK contributed 45,000, and Australia sent about 2,000. The number of countries in the coalition grew to 38 after the invasion.
The question here arises: Can they solve the Ukraine War, as it is up against not Iraq or East Timor but rather a mighty Russia that is stronger than the collective “coalition of the willing,” except the US?
Whatever coalition comes up against Russia, its military and political leadership has shown will to continue the war despite eagerly looking to cease hostilities.
Even after having the much-needed peace plan, Russia will not bind to any potential agreement with anyone other than the United States, its leadership has stated recently.
Additionally, the voluntary alliance will neither deter Russia nor will it change any realities on the ground without the United States at the heart of peace negotiations.
Zelensky, despite having a recent feud, acknowledged the US’s role in solving the crisis and said, “There will be diplomacy for the sake of peace,” adding it will be “for the sake of us all being together—Ukraine, all of Europe, and America.”
“To support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong US backing,” Starmer said after the summit.
By Waseem Ahmed Ganie
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