Merz, Macron, Starmer and Tusk in Kyiv – DW – 05/10/2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said leaders from the “coalition of the willing” will meet in Kyiv on Saturday.

He did not say who all would be in attendance, but added that it would be an important meet for European security. 

This coalition includes about 30 countries including Germany led by France and Britain, who are allied with Ukraine and willing to support it after a possible ceasefire.

The US is not part of this coalition, though President Donald Trump has urged Kyiv and Moscow to agree on terms of a ceasefire.

Kyiv has been calling on its European allies to send soldiers to enforce a potential ceasefire and ward off any potential future aggression by Russia, as well as urging them to increase sanctions. 

Russia supports the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict, but only with due consideration of “nuances” in the more than three-year-old war, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said late on Friday.

“This theme was long put forward by the Ukrainian side. And as soon as it was advanced by the (US administration of Donald Trump), it was supported by President (Vladimir) Putin with the reservation that it is very difficult to discuss this in detail if no answers are found to a large number of nuances around the notion of a ceasefire,” Peskov said.

Russia has previously said that the introduction of a long-term ceasefire depends on the establishment of mechanisms to monitor and maintain such a move.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland are visiting the Ukrainian capital, for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visit is a hugely symbolic show of European unity.

It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a defiant tone at a Moscow parade marking 80 years since victory in World War II. 

Ahead of the visit, the four leaders called on Russia to “agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire” and warned that “we will ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until it does.

On Friday, Zelenskyy announced in a video conference that the “coalition of the willing” would meet in Kyiv on Saturday.

The “coalition of the willing” is made up of around 30 countries and is led by France and Britain. They are all working on plans to help Ukraine after a possible ceasefire