European leaders seemed buoyed by the US president’s most recent hints on the subject, in the knowledge that US military might is likely to deter Vladimir Putin from advancing in the future. They will also discuss how to bring Zelensky into talks after Trump and Putin’s Alaska meeting saw him left out in the cold…reports Asian Lite News
European leaders who make up the ‘coalition of the willing’ are set to hold a conference call on Sunday – ahead of crunch talks between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky next week. The coalition – co-chaired by Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz – has the aim of bringing countries together to protect a peace deal in Ukraine.
Top of the agenda at Sunday’s meeting will be securing a concrete commitment from Trump on a security guarantee that would act as a powerful backstop in any Russia-Ukraine peacekeeping arrangement.
European leaders seemed buoyed by the US president’s most recent hints on the subject, in the knowledge that US military might is likely to deter Vladimir Putin from advancing in the future. They will also discuss how to bring Zelensky into talks after Trump and Putin’s Alaska meeting saw him left out in the cold.
In coordinated statements, European leaders said Zelensky must play a greater role in future talks, and that peace cannot be achieved without him. The hard bit will be to persuade the unpredictable US administration to change its approach, something that has proved almost impossible in the past.
When Trump re-entered the White House and made it clear the US would no longer provide a blank cheque to protect peace in Europe, others decided they had to step up, and the ‘coalition of the willing’ was thrown together in March. Since then, information about the allied peacekeeping effort has been patchy, but we know it includes over 30 countries, which have been asked to pledge whatever military support they can, including troops.
What has been forthcoming from the group though, has been consistent attempts to use their limited leverage to put pressure on the US. That will continue ahead of crunch talks between Trump and Zelenskyy, which are set to take place in Washington on Monday.
President Trump said European leaders are looking to him to drive results. “There are a lot of European leaders, but they rely on me — very much rely on me. If it wasn’t for me, this thing would never get solved until the last person breathing is dead,” Trump said at a press briefing last week.
For Zelenskyy, the stakes are high. He’ll arrive in Washington on Monday as President Trump takes the lead in pushing for a settlement. European leaders believe their coalition can give Zelensky added support as he enters the talks.
Trump has told Zelensky and other leaders he wants to move quickly toward a three-way meeting with Putin as early as Aug. 22, according to reporting from Axios. The goal, he has said, is to get all sides in the same room and test whether a breakthrough is possible. Such a summit would mark the first direct encounter between the three men since the war began.
The phrase “coalition of the willing” once described the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Today, Europe is using it to block any peace deal that redraws Ukraine’s borders by force. Sunday’s meeting, Zelensky’s White House talks Monday and Trump’s push for a three-way summit will show whether Europe’s coalition has real influence or if Washington and Moscow set terms alone.
The offices of President Macron, Prime Minister Starmer and Chancellor Merz did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Other outlets reported that Trump is inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Zelensky about it on Monday when they meet in the Oval Office.
Starmer commended Trump’s “pursuit of an end to the killing” following a phone call with the US President, Zelensky and Nato allies on Saturday morning. But he insisted Ukraine’s leader must not be excluded from future talks to broker a peace in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister and European leaders appeared increasingly confident that Mr Trump will offer a “security guarantee” of air support to back up allied troops on the ground in Ukraine, should they be deployed to keep the peace.
