European leaders pose for a family photograph at Lancaster House during the European leaders’ summit on March 2, 2025 in London, England.
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European allies put forward their own peacekeeping plans for Ukraine at the weekend, as well as attempting to position the region as a mediator between Kyiv and the White House after the blistering public attack on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office last Friday.
European leaders met in London on Sunday for a hastily convened summit that aimed to show a united front regarding Ukraine, and to present proposals aiming to keep Europe relevant to, and in the middle of, any future peace talks. Europe has been largely sidelined in such discussions in recent weeks, amid a rapprochement between Russia and the U.S.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after the gathering on Sunday that a “number” of allies had signed up to a “coalition of the willing” that was ready to commit peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
The U.K. insisted that the plan would be presented to the U.S. and that European allies would work to get Washington’s support for its proposals, which it said offered Ukraine much-coveted security guarantees.
“Through my discussions over recent days, we’ve agreed that the U.K., France and others will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. Then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States and take it forward together,” Starmer told the BBC on Sunday.
Several media reports suggested that Starmer and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had promoted the idea of an initial one-month truce between Ukraine and Russia to test if Russia was committed to any future peace deal.
CNBC has contacted Downing Street and the Elysee Palace for comment.
Europe has been scrambling to assert its role in future peacemaking, after U.S. and Russian officials began talks two weeks ago, which they said were aimed at laying the groundwork for discussions to end the war.
Meanwhile, tensions between Washington and Kyiv have risen to a boiling point, culminating in a spectacular public dressing-down of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday by U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump and VP JD Vance. Amid heated remarks, the U.S. politicians accused Kyiv’s leadership of being ungrateful for U.S. aid and of “gambling with World War III,” which Zelenskyy denied.
Wait-and-see mode
Analysts say there is currently little detail on Europe’s proposals to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine and scant understanding of which countries would be involved in such efforts. Russia has refused to countenance the idea of European troops on Ukrainian soil, while the U.S. insists that no American troops would be deployed to the country as peacekeepers.
Gesine Weber, fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told CNBC on Monday that the latest summit showed Europeans now really see the need to take the lead on support for Ukraine, “especially as tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine could not be higher.”
“We’re now basically in a wait-and-see position as to what extent Washington can be brought on board with this plan that they’re presented with,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
European allies have struggled to reach a general consensus on military aid for Ukraine during its three-year war with Russia, as well as what its future role might be in the country once the conflict has ended, given the continent’s broader security needs. Ukraine is currently part of neither the NATO military alliance, nor the European Union.
European allies have recently repeatedly discussed need to increase defense spending, aiming to signal to Trump that they — and NATO — are worth persevering with after persistent criticism from the U.S. that continental allies are over-reliant on the States for protection.
The U.S. and Russia have not yet publicly reacted to the latest meeting of European allies, although Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that “we should spend less time worrying about Putin” and more time concerned about crime, “so that we don’t end up like Europe.”
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO summit in Watford, in London, Britain, December 3, 2019.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Without U.S. support or Russia’s acquiescence, analysts say Europe could find its peacekeeping proposals falling flat very quickly.
“After the London summit on Ukraine, the concrete outcomes are limited. Apart from new air defense missiles and financial aid … Starmer announced a follow-up meeting. The next task will be to substantiate, beyond the U.K. and France, the ‘coalition of the willing’ of countries ready to deploy troops to Ukraine,” Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at risk consultancy Teneo, said in a note on Sunday.
Success will depend primarily on the U.S. and Russia, Nickel added, noting a key question to watch is whether European troops in Ukraine and any potential U.S. security backstop motivate Russia to reject peace talks.
“In turn, this creates risks regarding the US administration’s stance, given President Donald Trump’s desire for a quick ceasefire. The European plea for involvement potentially complicates the equation between Russia and the U.S. It contrasts with Trump’s position that a minerals extraction deal would be sufficient to prevent Russia from launching a renewed invasion,” Nickel said.
