Zelensky, Starmer plan meeting on Ukraine peacekeeping force
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President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer about coordinating steps for Ukraine's security, including a future meeting about peacekeeping troops, in a phone call on March 31.
Starmer, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, has been leading Europe's efforts to provide security guarantees for Kyiv in anticipation of a future ceasefire deal with Russia.
In a phone call March 31, Zelensky and Starmer discussed plans to convene military representatives from the "coalition of the willing," a group of countries that have pledged to contribute peacekeeping troops and other security assurances, at a meeting in Ukraine later this week.
"We are preparing a meeting between our military representatives for the preparation of contingents," Zelensky said via his official Telegram channel.
Starmer also shared with Zelensky details about his recent conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. Starmer and Trump agreed to keep up "collective pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call on March 30.
"We appreciate the U.K.'s position regarding pressure on Russia — pressure must be strong enough to prevent the Russians from expanding this war," Zelensky said.
"All the more so now, as Moscow blatantly makes a mockery of our partners' efforts to advance a peace agenda — with constant new drone attacks and relentless, brutal shelling."
Starmer has said that the coalition of the willing will include "planes in the air and boots on the ground" to reinforce the Ukrainian military following a ceasefire agreement. While Downing Street announced on March 17 that the plan had moved into the "operational phase," both U.K. and U.S. officials have criticized the idea as underdeveloped and unrealistic.
