UK's Starmer says 'coalition of willing' expanding preparations for post-truce Ukraine

By Michael Holden and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday European nations and Western allies were stepping up preparations to support Ukraine in the event a peace deal was struck with Russia, with defence chiefs to firm up "robust plans" next week.

Starmer hosted a virtual meeting to win support from allies to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire deal being pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and to gather commitments to help secure any agreement - something Trump has made clear he expects Europe to take on.

Around two dozen leaders took part, including those from Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and NATO's secretary general - but not the U.S.

Starmer said the "coalition of the willing" had reaffirmed its commitment both to supporting Ukraine as it resists Russia's three-year-old invasion and to securing any ceasefire that emerges from Trump's overtures to Russia.

While Russia has welcomed the ceasefire proposal in principle, it has also put forward a list of conditions that essentially restate its war aims, suggesting that any agreement will not come quickly.

Starmer told reporters: "We agreed we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia, keep the military aid flowing to Ukraine, and keep tightening restrictions on Russia's economy to weaken Putin's war machine and bring him to the table."

Jolted into action by Trump's reluctance to keep underwriting Europe's and Ukraine's security, other Western countries have been forced to show that they are prepared to step up.

"Our militaries will meet on Thursday this week here in the United Kingdom to put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace deal and guarantee Ukraine's future security," Starmer said.

"President Trump has offered Putin the way forward to a lasting peace. Now we must make this a reality."

ZELENSKIY INSISTS ON SECURITY GUARANTEE

After the meeting, Zelenskiy said he had told Kyiv's Western allies they must "define a clear position on security guarantees", including a commitment to basing troops on Ukrainian soil.

"This is a security guarantee for Ukraine and a security guarantee for Europe," he said in a post on X.

Britain and France have both said they could send peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after the meeting that his country was also open to requests to contribute to a future peacekeeping effort.

But, even if a ceasefire is agreed, much remains unclear.

Russia has said explicitly that it will not accept Western forces being deployed on Ukrainian soil.

And Starmer has said that, to deter Putin from attacking again, there is no alternative to a security "backstop" from Washington, whose forces and infrastructure are the backbone of the Western NATO alliance.

"It needs to be done in conjunction with the United States ... We are talking to the U.S. on a daily basis," he said.

Western countries have been scrambling to find ways to help Ukraine since Trump upended Washington's previous wholehearted support for Ukraine in opposing Russia's invasion and opened talks with Moscow aimed at ending the war and restoring ties.

Trump said there was a "very good chance" the war could come to an end after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow.

But Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited - demands rejected by Kyiv.

Starmer said Putin's response was not good enough but that, sooner or later, he would have to come to the negotiating table.

"Russia doesn’t give the impression of wanting peace in earnest," French President Emmanuel Macron said after the meeting. Rather than responding the to U.S.-led proposal, it was intensifying its assault, he said, adding:.

"President Putin wants to obtain everything - then negotiate. If we want peace, Russia must respond clearly and pressure must be clear, in coordination with the U.S., in order to reach a ceasefire."

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Michael Holden, Dan Peleschuk, Michel Rose and Kirsty Needham; Editing by Susan Fenton and Kevin Liffey)