What is a ‘coalition of the willing’? Key takeaways from Starmer and Macron’s Ukraine peace talks

Emmanuel Macron has said that France and Britain are proposing a limited month-long ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”.

But Kyiv has raised reservations about any end to the fighting without security guarantees for the country against any further aggression from Vladimir Putin.

Speaking more cautiously, Britain said there were several possible proposals on the table for a possible Ukraine ceasefire. European countries, led by Britain and France, are looking at options for a peace proposal including Ukraine after last week's Oval Office rupture between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"There are clearly a number of options on the table," Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman said. "I'm just not getting into a running commentary on the options."

In an interview given on his way to the summit, Mr Macron raised the possibility of a one-month ceasefire, although so far there has been no public endorsement from other allies.

"Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce," French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday. "And that's when real peace negotiations could start."

European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Mr Macron said in the interview published in Le Figaro.

Mr Starmer hosted a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday and said European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the United States.

Mr Zelensky, asked if he was aware of the plan mentioned by Macron, told reporters in London: "I'm aware of everything."

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Speaking to the BBC after the summit, Sir Keir said: “We’ve now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States.”

He added: “The UK and France are the most advanced in the thinking on this, and that’s why President Macron and I are going to be working on this plan, which we’ll then discuss with the US.

“That is a step in the right direction. This is not an exclusion – the more the better in this. But we need to move to a quicker, more agile way of going forward, and I think that is a coalition of the willing states.”

Also attending the meeting was French president, Emmanuel Macron; outgoing German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; Canadian prime minster, Justin Trudeau; Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez; the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni; and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

Here are the five biggest other takeaways from the European leaders’ meeting:

Speaking after the summit, Sir Keir said the UK and other nations across Europe were ready to form a “coalition of the willing” to defend Ukraine. It marks the strongest show yet of European unity over the conflict, but it remains unclear which nations are fully committed to the plan.

While Britain and France have expressed strong support, the prime minister added that only “one or two others” were on board.

Turning to the US, Sir Keir reaffirmed his vision of a transatlantic alliance to support Ukraine and secure peace in the country, saying after the summit: “We will work with President Trump to ensure a strong, just, and lasting peace that ensures Ukraine’s future sovereignty and security.”

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His words followed a clearer call at the summit, where he said “Europe must do the heavy lifting,” echoing calls from the Trump administration for EU nations to boost its spending on Ukrainian security.

“But to support peace in our continent, and to succeed this effort must have strong US backing," he added, setting out on a clear mission to find compromise with Trump who has previously signalled he is not willing to provide any ‘backstop.’

At the summit, leaders agreed to continue providing Ukraine with substantial military aid, with Sir Keir saying: “In the event of peace deal we will keep boosting Ukraine’s own defensive capabilities to deter any future invasions.”

The prime minister later announced an ‘historic’ ?1.6 billion deal in the UK to help Ukraine achieve “peace through strength.” It will provide the nation with 5000 air defence missiles, the Ministry of Defence says, whilst also creating 200 jobs in Northern Ireland.

The so-called European coalition will “intensify planning now, with real urgency,” Sir Keir said at the conference. “The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground, and planes in the air, together with others.”

In a statement after the meeting, he added that “many of us expressed readiness to contribute to Ukraine’s security.”

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However, so far the UK and France are alone in their commitment to put troops on the ground in Ukraine. Others, such as Spain, Poland and Germany, have all previously ruled out the possibility – but whether ongoing talks has changed minds remains to be seen.

Reiterating the need for a robust deal, Sir Keir pointed to the 2014 Minsk agreements which sought to end the Donbas war. In February 2022, Putin said that the terms negotiated in the discussions “no longer existed,” blamed Ukraine for their collapse, and launched Russia’s full scale invasion of the country just days later.

Perhaps pointing his comments at the US administration, the prime minister said: “We must not repeat the mistakes of the past when weak deals allowed President Putin to invade again.”

“There must be no talks on Ukraine without Ukraine,” he also added.