Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The “coalition of the willing” are meeting this week to discuss post-war support for Ukraine.
European leaders from Britain, France, Germany, and the EU joined Ukraine on Tuesday in a united appeal for an immediate ceasefire. Their statement expressed full support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent initiative to freeze the conflict in its current state.
“We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations,” the joint declaration said.
The coordinated message marks a rare moment of alignment between Washington, Kyiv, and key European capitals on how to launch peace talks.
Budapest meeting ahead
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Budapest, the Hungarian capital known for balancing its Western ties with close relations to Moscow.
Hungary, a member of both NATO and the EU, has maintained a pragmatic relationship with the Kremlin throughout the war. That stance may enable Budapest to play a mediating role as dialogue begins to take shape.
Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must cede additional territory before agreeing to a ceasefire. Kyiv and its allies, however, have remained firm in demanding an immediate halt to hostilities to pave the way for talks.
Trump made his ceasefire appeal after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House last Friday. The U.S. leader’s proposal to freeze the conflict along existing battle lines has quickly become the new diplomatic reference point.
Coalition plans progress
European leaders will reconvene later this week at an EU summit and in a separate meeting of the “coalition of the willing” — a group of countries formed to support Ukraine militarily and politically. Zelenskiy is expected to join the coalition’s session in London on Friday.
Formed by France and Britain in February, the coalition has been working for months on outlining post-war support for Ukraine and on ways to deter further Russian aggression once a truce is achieved.
“We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry until Putin is ready to make peace,” Tuesday’s statement added. “We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia’s immobilized sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs.”
The declaration underscores Europe’s intent to combine diplomatic outreach with economic leverage, signaling that any peace initiative will be matched with financial pressure on Moscow.
You can read the full statement here.
This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, which may have used AI in the preparation
