UK Says Significant Number of Countries Willing to Provide Troops to Maintain Ukraine Cease-Fire

The prime minister’s spokesman said British troops could only be deployed ‘in the context of a secure and lasting peace.’

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

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said on March 17 that a significant number of countries are willing to provide peacekeeping troops to help maintain a cease-fire in Ukraine.

Details about those who have volunteered for the so-called “coalition of the willing,” which is being pioneered by the UK and France, emerged after Starmer hosted a virtual summit with about 30 international leaders over the weekend.

U.S. President Donald Trump is due to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the White House seeks to broker a peace deal in Ukraine.

Ukraine has agreed to enter into a 30-day cease-fire with Russia following March 11 talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The United States has, in turn, resumed weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

On March 13, Putin backed a cease-fire in principle but said any truce would have to deal with the root causes of the conflict. He added that many details needed to be finalized before Moscow would agree to halt its invasion.

“We’re expecting more than 30 countries to be involved. Obviously, the contribution capabilities will vary, but this will be a significant force, with a significant number of countries providing troops and a larger group contributing in other ways,” Starmer’s spokesman, who by convention is not named, told reporters in London on Monday.

“The prime minister said over the weekend there’s going to be different capabilities from different countries, but these are now the operational discussions that are ongoing in relation to what the coalition of the willing will be able to provide.”

Military chiefs from some of the countries involved, which include the UK, France, Germany, and Canada, are due to meet on Thursday to discuss the next steps toward operational planning for the coalition, which is designed to deter future Russian aggression if a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv is agreed.

When asked whether British peacekeeping troops would be allowed to return fire at Russian soldiers, the spokesman declined to comment.

“It is worth remembering that Russia didn’t ask Ukraine when it deployed North Korean troops to the front line last year, but we’ve got the operational planning meetings that are going to go through the details,” he said.

Starmer’s spokesman said the prime minister still believed a European-led peacekeeping corps needed a security guarantee from the United States.

“The PM has said for the coalition of the willing, for UK troops to be deployed, it must be in the context of a secure and lasting peace with U.S. backing being needed, but as I said, those discussions are ongoing, and part of the discussions that he had with President Trump at the White House,” he said.

When Starmer visited Trump at the White House on Feb. 27 and asked about U.S. security guarantees in Ukraine, the president said, “The British have incredible soldiers, incredible military and they can take care of themselves.”

On March 14, before the virtual summit, Starmer said, “If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a cease-fire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace, if they don’t, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.”

Macron Reveals Deployment Details

French President Emmanuel Macron, according to local media, told French regional journalists over the weekend that the Franco–British peacekeeping plan did not envisage deploying soldiers in Ukraine en masse.

La Dépêche du Midi and Le Parisien reported that Macron said the plan was instead to deploy a few thousand troops to key points in Ukraine to provide training and support Ukrainian defenses.

La Dépêche du Midi reported that Macron said the plan was for several NATO member countries to provide troops who would serve as a security guarantee for Ukraine. The president said several “European countries, and indeed non-European countries, have expressed their willingness to join such an effort when it is confirmed.”

On Monday, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said Moscow wanted guarantees that NATO would not accept Kyiv as a member.

“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance.”

The Associated Press, Reuters, and PA Media contributed to this report.