UK, France continue to shape 'coalition of the willing'

The United Kingdom plans to follow recent high-level, multi-nation meetings about the Russia-Ukraine conflict with additional gatherings in the coming days, a UK government spokesperson has said.

The official said the meetings will involve senior military figures from the UK, France, and Ukraine, and focus on fleshing out the concept of the "coalition of the willing" that London and Paris have said should be formed to provide peacekeeping or "reassurance" services if a peace is reached between Russia and Ukraine.

The idea of the reassurance force was discussed at a summit in Paris last week that was attended by the leaders of several European nations and by senior figures from the NATO military alliance.

The unnamed spokesperson said senior military officers will now meet to agree the composition and function of the coalition.

The UK government wants to capitalize on what it sees as "real momentum" among Ukraine's allies in finding ways to boost the country's security after a peace deal is found, and on driving "forward the next stage of detailed planning", Reuters reported.

The spokesperson said the idea of the additional military meeting was discussed during a phone call this week between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"The leaders reflected on their visit to Paris last week and agreed there was real momentum to support Ukraine's security for the long term," Reuters quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Zelensky added in a separate statement that he values the UK's efforts to put pressure on Russia to agree to a peace deal.

"Quite heavy pressure is needed to keep Russia from expanding the war," he said. "All the more so as Moscow now openly mocks attempts by our partners to move the peace agenda forward."

Moscow, however, has said it is interested in agreeing to a ceasefire, as long as its conditions are met. They are thought to include commitments from Kyiv that Ukraine will not attempt to join the NATO military alliance, and that Ukraine will not allow peacekeepers from NATO nations.

The Kremlin has said negotiators from Russia and the United States are working on a future peace deal that will be agreeable to all sides.

Keith Bennett, a London-based senior international relations analyst, told China Daily the gatherings organized recently by London and Paris seem to have made few breakthroughs.

"By calling these constant meetings, they're really drawing attention to the fact that they haven't made any progress with their plans because it's all talk and no implementation," he said.

Bennett noted that the meeting in Paris involved around 30 countries but that "the essential dialogue is between Britain and France".

He said the situation is complicated by the fact that the UK and France seem to differ on the role of the coalition of the willing, with Starmer apparently seeing it as a peacekeeping force while President Emmanuel Macron of France has seemed open to the idea of possibly engaging militarily with Russia.

In a video posted on X before the Paris meeting, Ian Bremmer, president of risk research and consultancy Eurasia Group, said: "The more summits I see, the less I am convinced Europeans will be able to do enough, quickly enough to save Ukraine."

He said Europe seems to have a different perspective to the US on whether a peacekeeping force would be necessary after a future peace deal. And he said Starmer and Macron clearly "understand that the Europeans are going to have to create an independent strategy for their own self-defense, for their national security, for their political stability, for their democracies" because they can no longer rely on the US in the way they once could.

Contact the writers at earle@mail.chinadailyuk.com