UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are leading talks among 37 countries to form a coalition of the willing for Ukraine in the event of a peaceful settlement.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Bloomberg

Details: The article states that the UK and France are trying to strengthen Ukraine's position in the negotiations, while US President Donald Trump is seeking to achieve a settlement in the war with Russia. Europe's only two nuclear powers are trying to work out a plan to help ensure Kyiv's security.

The agency reports that the coalition of the willing, which London and Paris are working to assemble, may include countries from Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and Asia. The plan is to provide financial assistance, troops, aircraft or naval vessels to help defend Ukraine from new Russian aggression.

In a separate meeting in Paris on Tuesday, non-NATO countries, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, joined talks with military leaders from dozens of European countries as well as Canada, said people familiar with the talks.

The proposal will then be presented to Trump, who they hope can be persuaded to provide US security guarantees in the form of air power, intelligence and border surveillance without having to include US troops in the peacekeeping force, the sources said.

The UK and France also don't want the US to give in to Putin's demands to demilitarise Ukraine and force President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold elections before a permanent peace deal is agreed. On Wednesday, Starmer said that Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children should also be taken into consideration in a settlement.

Officials believe that the US-Ukraine agreement on a 30-day ceasefire and the development of plans for a peacekeeping force have increased pressure on Russia to make concessions. However, there are serious fears that Russia will use the ceasefire to rearm and continue to attack Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the defence ministers of five leading European powers held talks in Paris on Wednesday to coordinate support for Ukraine. They will meet again next week to continue discussing "military planning" in the event of a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

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