Coalition Of Willing; The European Solution For American Trouble Of Ukraine? (X image @ZelenskyyUa)
After the harsh encounter with the US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a heartfelt welcome in United Kingdom. The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskyy with a warm hug. Days after the public spat between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House, Starmer has declared a “coalition of the willing” to advance their efforts in order to draw up a peace plan to end war in Ukraine and present it to Trump for his support. The recent move came after US, a major ally of Kyiv in its war against Russia started to go downhill, with Trump’s return to power.
In contrast to Washington’s behaviour, Zelenskyy received assurances of support on Sunday from his European allies at a security summit in London hurriedly arranged by Starmer. After the summit, Starmer said that the European leaders are willing to join forces and devise 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”, he said.
Starmer and other European leaders pledged to continue the flow of military aid to Ukraine, whereas, US declared that the country has suspended military aid to Ukraine, as per media report.
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If the said peace deal is reached, Ukraine’s defensive capabilities will be bolstered. “In the event of a peace deal, we will keep boosting Ukraine’s own defensive capabilities to deter any future invasions,” the British prime minister added.
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.
Zelenskyy cut short his visit to US, after the ugly spat between Trump, who repeatedly cut him off and accused him of “gambling with World War III”. Zelenskyy quickly exited Washington promptly turned to Europe.
Coalition of the Willing
As per the media report, a ‘coalition of the willing’ refers to a temporary international partnership created to resolve a specific issue or achieve a particular military or political goal. Apparently, the first task of the coalition is to end the war in Ukraine, which will offer security offers to Kyiv, but is palatable to Trump, who said that Washington or NATO will not provide any such offers.
If the coalition will also take charge of implementing future security guarantees or whether member states would make its presence known in Ukrainian soil for this is not clarified till now. Unlike a binding international body like the European Union or NATO, a ‘coalition of the willing’ comprise countries who voluntarily or willingly join in the peace talk.
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The European leaders have not revealed details of what this peace plan would entail. Before the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron told Le Figaro newspaper that the UK and France want to propose a one-month ceasefire on sea and air attacks and attacks on energy infrastructure. The two countries have also indicated they are open to sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine as part of any ceasefire.
Starmer did not specify which all countries are part of the coalition. However, on Sunday, leaders or representatives of 12 European nations joined Starmer at the security summit in London. These leaders included, Zelenskyy, Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Apart from them, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were also present at the summit, said Al Jazeera report.
It appears that European Union as a whole has buckled up its efforts to support Kyiv. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long resisted the unconditional support for Ukraine.
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However, in a recent letter to Antonio Costa, Orban proposed that the EU should start direct discussions with Russia. “I am convinced that the European Union – following the example of the United States – should enter into direct discussions with Russia on a ceasefire and sustainable peace in Ukraine,” he wrote. “Therefore, I propose not to attempt adopting written conclusions on Ukraine.”
After leaving London, the Ukrainian leader said that he had left with “Europe’s clear support”.
This is not the first time to form such ‘coalition of the willing’. In 1999, an Australia-led International Force East Timor (INTERFET) under a United Nations mandate, which was made up of soldiers from Australia, the UK and New Zealand landed in East Timor. This marked the first time the UN greenlit a peace mission by a ‘coalition of the willing’.
In 2003, 30 countries 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.
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While partners in the ‘coalition of the willing’ can come up with peace plans, US backing is needed. Both Zelenskyy and Starmer have acknowledged that they need US backing for the execution of a potential peace plan. During one of his video addressing, the Ukraine President said that “There will be diplomacy for the sake of peace”. He said it will be “for the sake of us all being together – Ukraine, all of Europe and definitely, definitely America”.
(With inputs from agencies)
