More than 30 countries will be involved in the “coalition of the willing” to help end the war in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman has said.
On Saturday, leaders from 26 Western countries – plus two EU leaders and NATO’s secretary general – gathered for a virtual call hosted by Sir Keir after Ukraine’s president accepted a 30-day interim ceasefire agreement.
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He said military chiefs will meet on Thursday to discuss the next “operational phase” to protecting Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force if a peace deal can be agreed with Russia.
On Monday, the prime minister’s spokesman revealed they now expect “more than 30” countries to be involved in the coalition – but did not reveal which other countries had joined since Saturday.
He said they will have different roles and not all will involve sending troops to be part of a peacekeeping force, which Sir Keir and French leader Emmanuel Macron have said the UK and France will be part of.
“The coalition of the willing, we expect more than 30 countries to be involved,” the spokesman said.
“It involves more than sending troops, and will involve contributing in other ways.”
Asked if British troops fired on by Russia in Ukraine would be allowed to fire back, the spokesman said: “It’s worth remembering that Russia didn’t ask Ukraine when it deployed troops.
“We’ve got operational planning meetings that they are going through.”
The leaders involved in Saturday’s call were from: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and the UK.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa also joined.
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