Can a "coalition of the willing" win Europe favour with Trump?

Furious reaction

Trump's focus on Greenland has prompted a furious reaction from many European leaders, not least because the country, the world's largest island, has been part of the kingdom of Denmark since 1721. Today, it's a self-governing territory inside the NATO ally.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has responded by claiming that, if the US attacked another NATO country, it would result in the end of the alliance, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that "no member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation should attack or threaten another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Otherwise, NATO would lose its meaning."

The announcement, therefore, that the UK and France have signed a declaration committing them to "deploy forces" to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal in the long-running conflict could help ease transatlantic tensions.

The announcement followed a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing", where leaders from 30 countries met in Paris earlier this week to discuss the Trump administration's latest proposals for ending the war.

A key element of the peace plan is to provide Ukraine with ironclad security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, to deter Russia from any further acts of military aggression. European leaders have been discussing the establishment of a "reassurance force" composed of military units from European countries, with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the forefront of efforts to create such a force.

After signing an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Starmer confirmed that, in the event of a ceasefire being reached, the UK and France had agreed to establish "military hubs" across Ukraine aimed at building protected facilities for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraine's defensive needs.

A statement from "the coalition of the willing," issued in Paris by the French government, said the two countries were committed to establishing a "multinational force for Ukraine" from willing nations that could support deterrence and the rebuilding of Ukraine's armed forces in the event of a ceasefire.

Warm response

The agreement received a warm response from the Trump administration, which has previously been critical of divisions within Europe over how best to end the Ukraine conflict.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who attended the Paris meeting with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, welcomed the agreement, telling a news conference that the US leader "strongly stands" behind the proposed security protocols for Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached. He explained the protocols were  "meant to a) deter any further attacks in Ukraine and b) if there are any attacks, they're meant to defend".

"And they will do both," he added.

Kushner said the agreement represented "a very, very big milestone, and I thank President Macron for assembling this and for all of the work that everyone here has done behind the scenes to bring this together. This does not mean that we will make peace, but peace would not be possible without the progress that was made here today."

However, reservations have been raised about the proposed European force's ability to maintain peace in Ukraine if it does not receive US military backing. As retired US General Ben Hodges, the former commander of US forces in Europe, commented in an interview with The Guardian, "The coalition of the willing has to have real force and rules of engagement that allow it to immediately react and respond to any violations," he said. "Captains can't be having to call back to Paris or London to find out how to deal with a Russian drone." 

Nevertheless, while questions remain about the effectiveness of Europe's "coalition of the willing," European leaders' willingness to undertake vital peacekeeping operations in Ukraine should help ease tensions in transatlantic relations."