Britain to Host Talks on Peacekeeping in Ukraine

Senior military figures from a variety of countries will meet just outside London on Thursday to discuss the plans moving into an ‘operational phase.’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London on Mar. 12, 2025. Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP

Britain will host a closed-door meeting on peacekeeping in Ukraine on Thursday, bringing together senior military leaders from across Europe and beyond as planning to assemble a force to be stationed in the war-torn nation moves to an “operational phase.”

More than 20 military leaders are expected to attend the meeting at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in North West London, according to the BBC.

Britain’s state-funded broadcaster said that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make an appearance after visiting the town of Barrow, where he is set to lay the keel of the first Royal Navy Dreadnought-class submarine, a fleet of four vessels that will form the next generation of the country’s nuclear deterrent.

Starmer, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, has been trying to assemble a so-called “coalition of the willing“ to help enforce any peace deal that may be agreed by Kyiv and Moscow.

Starmer announced at the weekend that military chiefs would “put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace deal and guarantee Ukraine’s future security.”

At the time, he did not elaborate on which nations had committed to a peacekeeping force but said that their potential actions would be a topic of discussion in the meeting. He also signaled a move to an “operational phase.”

The gathering comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believes a “lasting peace can be achieved this year” after a call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

In a March 19 post on social media platform X, Zelenskyy said he had a “positive, very substantive, and frank” conversation with Trump, and said that Kyiv was ready to end strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure.

He thanked Trump for the talks in Saudi Arabia, adding that the pair had agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace.

“We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” he said.

In the same call, Trump suggested that Washington take ownership of Ukrainian power plants.

Trump said during the call that the United States could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” according to a White House statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

The statement said that U.S. ownership of those plants “could be the best protection for that infrastructure.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said in a March 19 statement: “We welcome the progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire deal, and we will continue to work with international partners on putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position. We now need to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire deal to see a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy is set to address European leaders on Thursday when he calls into a European Council meeting via video link.

On Tuesday, Trump discussed a 30-day cease-fire proposal during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the wake of that call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian leader had agreed to stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities temporarily but declined to endorse a full 30-day cease-fire.

“I can say with a high degree of confidence that presidents Putin and Trump understand each other well, trust each other and intend to work towards the normalisation of Russian-American relations step-by-step,” Peskov said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.