A source speaking to The Sunday Times reports that despite earlier commitments from the UK and France, no nation is willing to risk troop casualties in Ukraine.
The Sunday Times, citing an unnamed source, reports that the European backers of Kiev, known as the “Coalition of the Willing,” will not be sending troops to Ukraine, despite previous suggestions.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated in March that London was prepared to deploy “boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others.” French President Emmanuel Macron had made a similar statement earlier in the year.
The proposed deployment was intended to be a “peacekeeping” force, contingent on a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and Moscow. However, Germany, Poland, Spain, and Italy have all expressed reservations or outright refusal to contribute troops to such a mission.
Russia has consistently voiced strong opposition to the presence of NATO military personnel in Ukraine under any circumstances.
The Sunday Times reported on Saturday that if the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump results in a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, Kiev would likely request “international monitors on the ground.”
However, the British newspaper suggests that the “coalition of the willing” is unlikely to fulfill this role. A UK defense official, quoted anonymously by the publication, acknowledged that “no one wants to send their troops to die in Ukraine.”
In May, the Financial Times, also citing an anonymous source, indicated that plans for the coalition’s deployment in Ukraine were “dead” following the US refusal to provide support.
The Times had previously suggested the plan was unrealistic due to personnel shortages within European militaries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused European NATO member states last month of pursuing a “militaristic [and] confrontational” policy.
In April, Secretary of Russia’s National Security Council Sergey Shoigu, formerly the country’s defense minister, warned that the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine could potentially lead to a third world war.
The Kremlin has consistently characterized the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war waged by the West against Russia, with Kiev being used as a disposable instrument.
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