British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the "coalition of the willing" is moving to the operational phase, a meeting is scheduled for Thursday at the level of European military personnel, and there are "new commitments on the table" from world leaders, UNN writes with reference to BBC, The Guardian, and Sky News.
Details
According to him, the "coalition of the willing" unites partners from all over the EU, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and supports others, including Japan.
He added that the efforts of those who support Ukraine must continue, including ensuring "the flow of military aid" and continuing sanctions to "weaken Putin's war machine and force him to the table".
At a press conference, he said that the moment has come to "accelerate the practical work" needed to move towards a peace agreement.
According to him, there was an "agreement that we are moving to the operational phase" of military planning, which will take place on Thursday.
Moving to the "operational phase", representatives of the military forces will meet on Thursday to support a possible ceasefire.
In a past statement, the British Prime Minister called on allies to make "specific commitments" and gave an example of such commitments. He pointed out that a "larger group" gathered today than came to Great Britain two weeks ago for the summit at Lancaster House.
The group that met this morning is a bigger group than we had two weeks ago, there is a stronger collective resolve and new commitments were put on the table this morning, both in relation to the coalition of the willing in terms of defending the deal, also in relation to the wider point, which is the collective defence and security of Europe. So, more commitments on the table this morning and an agreement that we now move to the operational phase, which is why the talks on Thursday, the military talks, will become the next focal point
These commitments concern both the "coalition of the willing" of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine and the "broader point of view, which is the collective defense and security of Europe", Starmer said. The broader aspect, Starmer continued, is that "Europe must step up its own defense and security".
"This is the moment to continue moving towards the result we want to see: an end to the killings, a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and strong security for all of us," he said.
Asked about the rules of engagement that would apply if British and European troops were deployed to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, and how effective they would be if those forces could not return fire if necessary, Starmer replied: "The operational meeting [on Thursday] is where discussions take place on what the capabilities will be".
He noted that he wants Great Britain to "play a leading role" by providing troops and aviation, while other countries will provide other capabilities.
But first, a peace agreement must be reached, which requires pressure on Russia.
"If there is to be a lasting peace, there must be security arrangements," the British Prime Minister added, noting that Putin has previously violated peace agreements.
Amid Starmer's work on peacekeeping forces, he was asked what would happen if Putin refused to accept it. He replied that the main thing is to "put maximum pressure on Russia".
There was a wider agreement this morning, which was that the ‘yes, but’ from Russia is not good enough, and we agreed our collective pressure will be put on Russia from all of us who are in the meeting this morning
Reminder
Ukraine and the United States held talks in Jeddah on March 11, following which they issued a joint statement, in which "Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the US proposal for the immediate introduction of a temporary, 30-day ceasefire regime, which may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, provided that it is accepted and simultaneously implemented by the Russian Federation".
According to the statement, the United States was to inform the Russian Federation that reciprocity on the part of Russia is key to achieving peace.
US President Donald Trump stated about productive talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on March 13.
On that day, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated about his readiness for a truce with Ukraine for 30 days. But, according to him, "there are nuances" regarding this.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the statements of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin regarding a truce with Ukraine for 30 days were predictable, and he is preparing a refusal of this proposal, but he is afraid to tell US President Donald Trump about it.
Later in Russia, it was stated that dictator Vladimir Putin had conveyed "additional" signals to US President Donald Trump regarding the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.