‘Coalition of the Willing’ Progresses but Foggy on Details

The UK-and-French-led “Coalition of the Willing” has signaled progress in hashing out operational details and key objectives but said more work is needed to determine fine details, such as the troops needed, during a meeting on Thursday. 

The meeting at the NATO HQ in Brussels followed its delegation visit to Kyiv a week prior, with French President Emmanuel Macron hinting before that meeting that locations for deployments in Ukraine were on the agenda. 

In Brussels, the group listed four key objectives to be achieved via a reassurance force: safe skies, safe seas, peace on land and a strong Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to a Ukrainian news outlet. 

In his opening statement on Thursday, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said the group has “clear objectives” and said the meeting would focus on sorting out “operational planning.”

“Our planning is real and substantial. Our plans are well developed and we have clear objectives for Ukraine… [The meeting will] focus on how operational planning of the coalition could work, and how we make sure that we’re fully prepared for the moment a peace agreement is reached,” Healey said, according to Euronews. 

The coalition is a UK-led initiative, with substantial backing from France, on deploying Western troops to Ukraine and enforcing a future peace deal. Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, described the planned deployment not as a peacekeeping mission but an active “special expeditionary force.” 

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While President Volodymyr Zelensky said the plan would be ready “in about a month” after the Kyiv meeting and cover not just troop deployments but also protection “on the ground, in the air, and at sea, as well as air defense,” details remain scarce after Thursday’s meeting. 

“Ministers [arriving] at the meeting wouldn’t be drawn to comment on how many troops could be sent to Ukraine and under what timeline,” Euronews reported. 

The publication noted that some countries, such as Poland and Greece, have ruled out sending troops, while some in the Baltic states have voiced openness but only if their border with Russia is secured. 

Most nations in participation also agreed that a “US backstop” is needed, according to Euronews – an idea that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought up after a Paris defense meeting in February.

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen called the US a “crucial player” who “must be involved somehow” on Thursday. 

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans told reporters that it “really depends on the mission to what extent US involvement is needed” and noted the importance of backing from Washington. 

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is set to attend the upcoming top-level Ukraine support planning conference at Ramstein on Friday, April 11, albeit virtually.