European leaders will take photos of their families at Lancaster House at the European Leaders Summit held in London, England on March 2, 2025.
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European allies proposed a peacekeeping plan for Ukraine over the weekend. It also sought to position the region as a mediator between Kiev and the White House after a fierce public attack on Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky last Friday.
European leaders met in London on Sunday for a rushed summit aimed at presenting a united front on Ukraine and presenting a proposal aimed at Europe in relation to and in the middle of future peace negotiations. Europe has been on the sidelines in discussions like this in recent weeks amid a settlement between Russia and the US.
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said he has signed a “coalition of will” ready to commit peacekeeping forces to Ukraine in peace cooperation after the gathering on Sunday.
The UK argued that the plan was presented to the US and that European allies would work to gain Washington’s support for the proposal, which provided large-scale security assurances for Ukraine.
“Through my discussions over the last few days, I have agreed to work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and I will discuss that plan with the US and move it forward,” Starmer told the BBC on Sunday.
Several media reports suggested that priorities and his French Emmanuel Macron promoted the idea of a first month armistice between Ukraine and Russia to test whether Russia is committed to future peace deals.
CNBC contacted Downing Street and Elysee Palace for comments.
Europe is screaming to assert its role in future peacebuilding after we and Russian officials began consultations two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, tensions between Washington and Kiev rose to boiling point, leading to Ukrainian Voldymir Zelensky’s grand public dressing last Friday by US officials including President Donald Trump and VP JD Vance. In his fierce remarks, American politicians accused Kiev of “gambling with World War II” that Zelensky denied, “the aid of the United States and “gambling with World War II.”
Standby mode
Analysts say there is currently little detail about Europe’s proposal to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine, with no scarce understanding of which countries will be involved in such efforts. Russia has refused to express the concept of European military in Ukrainian soil, but it argues that the US will not deploy to the country as a peacekeeping force.
Jessine Weber, a fellow German Marshall Fund, told CNBC on Monday. The latest summit said it shows that Europeans are actually seeing the need to lead support in Ukraine.
“We are basically in a position to wait about how well Washington can fit into this plan presented,” she told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.
European allies have struggled to reach a general consensus on Ukrainian military aid during a three-year war with Russia, and, given the continent’s broader security needs, what will be their future role within the country once the conflict is over. Ukraine is currently not a NATO military alliance or part of the European Union.
European allies have recently repeatedly debated the need to increase defence spending, and they aim to be worth encouraging Trump and NATO to be worthy of patience after sustained criticism from the US that continental allies are overly dependent on the nation for protection.
The US and Russia have yet to publicly respond to the latest meeting of European allies, but Trump said on Sunday that he should “have to cut back on time to worry about Putin” and “do not end like Europe.”
US President Donald Trump will be attending a meeting with NATO Executive Director Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO Summit held in Watford in London, UK on December 3, 2019.
Kevin Lamarck | Reuters
Without US support or Russia’s acquiescence, analysts say Europe can find peacekeeping proposals flattened very quickly.
“After the London Summit in Ukraine, concrete results are limited. With the exception of new air defense missiles and financial aid… Starme announced a follow-up meeting. The next task is to demonstrate the “ambitious” of the country, which is ready to deploy its troops in Ukraine, beyond the UK and France.
Success depends primarily on the US and Russia, Nickel adds, noting that the key question to look at is whether the potential backstops of Ukrainian European troops and US security motivate Russia to refuse to negotiate peace.
“This creates risks regarding the US administration’s stance given President Donald Trump’s desire for a rapid ceasefire. The European plea for European involvement could potentially complicate the equation between Russia and the US, in contrast to the mineral extraction contract being charged to prevent Russia from launching an updated invasion.
