^Malta is to be highlighted as EU non-participant state
^Attested in Ukrainian[1] Serbian,[2] Finnish[3] sources.
^Coordination headquarters, set upon MNF–U deployment, headed by a UK2-stargeneral officer.[5] HQs are on 12-months rotation.[6][7]
^US representatives took part in the July 10 (2 US Congressmen and the President's special envoy for Ukraine, PSEU), the 13 August (US vice-president and PSEU) summit meetings, the 20 August military planners consultations. Immediately after the 4 September summit, participants held a call with US president Donald Trump.[9][10][11][12]
Thecoalition of the willing (CoW) is a coalition of 34 countries (plusUkraine)[14][15][16] that have pledged strengthened support for Ukraine againstRussian aggression, going further than the support delivered by theUkraine Defense Contact Group by pledging readiness to be part of a peacekeeping force deployed on Ukrainian territory, either by providing troops or contributing in other ways. The peacekeeping force is envisaged to be deployed only the moment Ukraine and Russia sign a "comprehensive ceasefire agreement" or "peace deal" to settle the ongoingRusso-Ukrainian War.[17] The initiative, led by the United Kingdom and France, was announced by British Prime MinisterSir Keir Starmer on 2 March 2025, following the2025 London Summit on Ukraine under the motto "securing our future".[18]
The stated aim of the initiative is to facilitate thepeace negotiation attempts launched and mediated by the United States between Ukraine and Russia in February 2025, by helping to build strong enoughsecurity guarantees for Ukraine to ensure that a potential reached ceasefire or peace deal would be lasting.[19] Besides building a potential peacekeeping force, the coalition have expressed readiness to increase military support for Ukraine and strengthen economic sanctions against Russia in the event that the ongoing negotiations for a "comprehensive ceasefire" or "peace deal" fail. As of 20 March 2025, its exact shape and function was still being planned, but the coalition was moving into an "operational phase".[20][21]
According to a report fromLe Monde, in late November 2024 Paris and London were discussing taking the lead in a coalition to be deployed in Ukraine, on terms not then defined. This was in light of Trump's return to theWhite House and the prospect of American disengagement from Kyiv.[22] The option of sending troops to Ukraine, the debate on whichFrench PresidentEmmanuel Macron had launched at a meeting of Kyiv's allies in Paris in February 2024, was strongly opposed by some European countries, led byGermany. This scenario had not been buried however and was revived during the visit ofBritish Prime Minister, Keir Starmer to France for the 11 NovemberArmistice Day ceremonies.[22] On 1 March 2025, Czech presidentPetr Pavel made a social media post onX, calling for the formation of a coalition of the willing to end theRusso-Ukrainian war.[23]
March–August 2025
Building upon these bilateral discussions aiming at creating a hard core of allies in Europe focused on Ukraine and wider European security, Starmer hosted, on 2 March 2025, theLondon Summit on Ukraine with Macron,Ukrainian presidentZelenskyy and sixteen other world leaders, in order to coordinate support for Ukraine. Starmer characterised the meeting as addressing a "once-in-a-generation moment" for European security, stating that the time had come for decisive action rather than continued deliberation, and officially announced Britain and France would lead a European "coalition of the willing" to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and enable peace negotiations with Russia.[18][24] The announcement came two days after ameeting between Zelenskyy and United States PresidentTrump withVice PresidentVance at the White House on 28 February.[25][26]
On 11 March 2025, the military chiefs of staff of 30 European andCommonwealth nations, as well as Japan, met in Paris for talks on the creation of an international security force for Ukraine to maintain peace should a ceasefire come into effect.[27][28] On 15 March, Starmer held a virtual meeting with leaders from European and Commonwealth nations to assemble the "coalition of the willing" to consider options for a "reassurance force" to be deployed within Ukraine to deter renewed Russian attacks against the country should a ceasefire be agreed.[29] The meeting gathered the leaders of 26 countries, including several European countries, Ukraine, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as representatives from theEuropean Commission andNATO.[30]
On 20 March 2025, the exact shape and function of the coalition was described as still being subject to ongoing planning, but moved into an "operational phase" marked by the gathering of a meeting of military officials from 31 countries. No final decisions were announced after the meeting, but some media reported the participants had contemplated that the coalition could have two different designs depending on whether or not it should be deployed to defend a ceasefire agreement or a peace deal.[31][32] Five military sub-planning groups (land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction) will reconvene the military officials from the 31 countries to continue discussions across three intensive planning days from 24 to 26 March at theNorthwood Headquarters in England.[33][34][needs update]
The coalition then met again for a third high-level summit in Paris on 27 March, with an agenda to finalise the plans on how the coalition shall be designed and deployed as a military force to ensure that a potential ceasefire will be lasting for Ukraine.[35][36] The agenda of the summit included drafting and debating a peace treaty proposal written by the coalition, drafting and debating how the coalition can secure a "complete ceasefire" acceptable to Ukraine, bolsteraid to Ukraine (with each participating country expected to outline what it is prepared to do), and agreeing on a plan for providing long-term support for theUkrainian army.[37] The outcome of the meeting was unanimous agreement that:[38]
No sanctions against Russia could be lifted as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement.
A potential sanctions relief should instead be conditioned on reaching a peace deal.
Defense chiefs from Ukraine, France and UK should soon meet in Ukraine to conduct the next stage of the detailed planning for setting up a potentialreassurance force (determining the number of soldiers and type of military equipment required to be deployed after a reached peace deal, in order to deter and respond to a subsequently potential renewed Russian aggression).
On 24 April 2025,The Times reported that British officials considered deploying a ground force to defend Ukraine too risky and that the plan was likely to be abandoned, with military trainers deployed to Western Ukraine instead.[39] On 29 April 2025, it reported that Europe "would struggle to put 25,000 troops on the ground in Ukraine". Lithuania's defense ministerDovile Sakaliene reportedly said "Russia has 800,000 [troops]. Let me tell you this, if we can't even raise 64,000 that doesn't look weak – itis weak."[40]
On 17 July 2025, a week after signingLancaster Declaration with France, the UK, as represented by defence secretaryJohn Healey,[41] provided an update to theHouse of Commons on the war in Ukraine revealing command structure, components, and supposed name of the coalition force – Multinational Force Ukraine.[5] The name was confirmed on 17 August in the coalition statement.[11] Joined by NATO military chiefs between 19 and 21 August, coalition planners held virtual meetings on Ukraine with focus on security guarantees design.[12]
September–November 2025
In September 2025, the Coalition'sMultinational Force–Ukraine (MNF-U) established its strategic joint command headquarters inFort Mont Valerien, Paris, co-led by France and the United Kingdom. This development marked the transition from theoretical planning to operational readiness, creating a structure to oversee the coalition's future non-combat stabilization mission.[citation needed]
After the 4 September Coalition summit in Paris,Macron announced that 26 nations had formally pledged to deploy troops as part of a "reassurance force" committed to roles includingair policing, navalmine-clearing, and training, with deployment conditional on a ceasefire. By late October, the United Kingdom confirmed its specific contributions to securing Ukraine's "skies and seas," a commitment formally reiterated in theHouse of Lords on October 31 byminister of State for Development,FCDO, baronessJenny Chapman in the ministerial statement.[42]
Diplomatic friction withRussia intensified in November 2025. On November 17, the Paris headquarters was formally inaugurated. In response, Russian PresidentVladimir Putin demanded an explicit ban on Western military deployments on Ukrainian soil as a precondition for any peace agreement.[43] Diplomatic efforts culminated in late November. Following intense US-Ukrainian talks inGeneva on 23 November, a controversial US-drafted "28-point" peace plan — widely criticized as pro-Russian — was replaced by a revised "19-point proposal" more acceptable to Ukraine. Two days later, on November 25, coalition leaders met to formalize a dedicated working group to align European security guarantees with American diplomatic efforts, joined by US Secretary of StateMarco Rubio.[44] The same day, Macron announced the creation of mentioned group to define the technical specifics of the military support.[45] France and the UK subsequently inuagurated this working group to define the final contributions, mandates, and security guarantees of the MNF-U.[46] Its mandate is to determine the specific security guarantees and national contributions for proposed MNF-U, with the participation of the United States and Turkey.
In addition to summits, the coalition has convened its second ministerial (3 September, NATO HQ, Brussels) and first announced directors-level (4 November, Madrid) meetings.[47]
December 2025 – present
As of December 2025[update], the coalition focused on bridging European "Article 5-style" security commitments and the skepticism regarding their credibility without direct US combat involvement.[citation needed] In a December briefing byEuropean Parliament Research Service, Coalition was suggested as an 'option of last resort' for financing 2026–27 Ukrainian security needs.[48]: 7 On 8 December, following a meeting with European leaders in London (of UK, France, Germany, Ukraine;[49] and with the leaders of Italy, Finland,President of the European Commission andSecretary general of NATO participating virtually in the second part of the meeting by video link[50]), presidentZelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine and its European partners had prepared a revised20-point proposal to be shared with the US, stressing that while the talks were "productive," there was still no agreement on ceding any Ukrainian territory, a compromise he stated Kyiv would never accept.[51] The next day, news agencies specified three documents under discussion (the revised 20-point framework proposal for a peace plan, a reconstruction plan for Ukraine to be implemented after a reached ceasfire or peace, and a security guarantee agreement to be agreed between Ukraine, United States and the Coalition of the Willing), with the document about the security guarantees being requested by Ukraine and its European supporters to be 'aligned with the principles of the Coalition of the Willing'.[52][53]
The 11 December coalition's virtual summit official statements confirmed inviolability of borders principle and ongoing discussions regarding the detailed planning for a proposed European reassurance force as a component of the robust security guarantees being developed.[54][16][55] The same day discussions were followed by the online meeting between Ukraine and US part of the working group on security guarantees,[56] and later on by the series of meetings – culminating in the European leaders summit, along withSteven Witkoff, on 15 December 2025 – inStuttgart andBerlin starting 13 December 2025.[57][58][59][60] Coalition, along the multinational force referred bythe New York Times as 'European forces', was mentioned in the press statement of the 15 December European summit.[61]
High-level meetings
Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris, France – 4 September 2025
The coalition format serves as a mechanism to circumvent institutional stalemates, avoiding need for NATO to respond, while having an agility in a new security architecture in Europe.[62]: 2 [63]: 6 As CoW is not a treaty-based entity, participants membership status has been conferred by representatives attending coalition meetings. From July 2025, France and the UK are constant co-chairs of the summit meetings. As of December 2025[update], Germany joined theduumvirate twice as the third co-chair.[64]
The coalition so far held the following high-level meetings, in order to help facilitate thepeace negotiation attempts aiming to reach a "comprehensive ceasefire agreement" or "peace deal" to settle theRusso-Ukrainian war:[65]
Theraison d'être of the initiative was created by thepeace negotiation attempts launched and mediated by the United States between Ukraine and Russia in February 2025, as those negotiations initially did not present or offer Ukraine any substantial security guarantees to defend a potentially reached peace deal; while it was acknowledged that in order to ensure that a potential peace would be lasting for Ukraine then some strongersecurity guarantees than the pre-existing1994 Budapest Memorandum would be needed, and at the same time became clear that the previously considered proposal to offer Ukraine an immediate membership ofNATO as a security guarantee could not be realised. Besides serving the role as building up a potential peacekeeping force, the coalition also expressed readiness to increase military support for Ukraine and strengthen economic sanctions against Russia, in the event that the ongoing negotiations for a "comprehensive ceasefire" or "peace deal" would fail.[citation needed]
In a press conference that followed the London summit, Starmer outlined four key components of the coalition's approach:[24][25]
Commitment to maintaining the flow of military aid to Ukraine while increasing economic pressure on Russia throughsanctions and other measures.
Affirming that any lasting peace agreement must ensure the sovereignty and security of Ukraine, with Ukraine being present at all peace negotiations.
Pledging to enhance Ukraine'sdefensive military capabilities following any peace deal to deter potential future invasions.
Development of a "coalition of the willing" consisting of multiple countries prepared to defend the terms of any peace agreement and guarantee Ukraine's security afterwards.
In December 2025, scientists John Karlsrud and Yf Reykers ofNUPI characterized the coalition as "a coordinated political effort to strengthen Europe's role in ensuring Ukraine's future sovereignty and security".[62]: 2
Commitments
Cereals export logistics, Ukraine (excludingoblasts partly occupied by Russia, in light green) Originally published byUSDA, June 2025[a]
As part of the announcement, British Prime Minister Starmer committed£1.6 billion (US$2 billion) inUK export finances to purchase more than 5,000 air defence missiles for Ukraine.[81] The missiles will be manufactured inBelfast.[81] This complemented a previously announced £2.2 billion loan formilitary aid to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets.[82][83] Starmer emphasised that European countries would need to take primary responsibility for the initiative and "do the heavy lifting" and that the agreement would require US backing and Russian involvement. He indicated that the United Kingdom would back its security commitments with "boots on the ground, and planes in the air", regarding the possibility of UK and EU direct military presence in Ukraine to carry out apeace enforcement operation.[25]
President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen emphasised the "urgent needto re-arm Europe," to support such security guarantees after "a long time of underinvestment". She suggested that the European Union might need to ease its fiscal rules regardingnational debt to facilitate increased defence spending by member states.[24]Secretary General of NATORutte echoed this sentiment, noting that the meeting demonstrated European countries "stepping up" to ensure Ukraine has the resources necessary to "stay in the fight as long as it has to continue."[25] Right after the meeting, Finland's presidentAlexander Stubb said that Norway and Finland are working in support of the drafting of the UK–France–Ukraine peace plan. In addition, he said that the role of the countries that are Russia's neighbours will be different from providing peacekeeping troops.[84]
On 30 April 2025, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal offered to contribute "a company-sized unit (50 to 250 soldiers), including combat troops, instructors, and staff officers" as part of the "coalition of the willing".[85] Portugal has pledged €226 million towards the supply of weapons and military equipment, in addition to training for pilots and drone operators.[86] Denmark has invested in sustainable indigenous Ukrainian production of equipment (the Danish model), made possible through the support of the European Union.[87]
International law and peace enforcement framework for Ukraine
The legal architecture for the coalition'speacekeeping mission is evolving inthe shadow ofUN precedent andinternational law.[88][89] Deployment is to occur only with a comprehensive, signedceasefire or peace deal, respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and the norms prohibiting intervention in active conflicts without host-country consent. Rules of engagement, status of forces, and chain of command are being negotiated in detail, taking lessons from previous 'coalitions of the willing'.[90] As of October 2025[update], lack of specific 'reassurance force in Ukraine' legal analysis highlights the risks of ambiguity in force mandate, especially in the context of 'robustpeace enforcement' (as opposed to traditional peacekeeping).[91][92][93]
Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Keir Starmer(pictured L-R), Friedrich Merz andDonald Tusk(not pictured) at joint press conference. 10 May 2025,Mariinskyi Palace,Kyiv
As of November 2025[update], the official list of members has not been disclosed.[citation needed] The group consists largely of European andCommonwealth countries.[103] Australia was not represented at the 10 April 2025 meeting. Starmer publicly announced Japan had joined the coalition of the willing on 15 March 2025, however Japan did not join a high-level coalition meeting until 13 August, whenShigeru Ishiba,Prime Minister of Japan, joined the 7th CoW leaders meeting by video conference.[104][105][106] He also attended the next two virtual meetings.[107][108] Despite being represented in the virtual meeting on 15 March, and the 10 May meeting, New Zealand was not represented in subsequent 27 March and 10 April meetings.[109][110]
At the 6 January 2026 Coalition meeting in Paris, the following countries were represented:[80]
Beside those listed above,Montenegro's prime ministerMilojko Spajić participated at three coalition summits between September and December 2025.[111][112][113][16] Besides of representatives from the participating nations, the following people also attended the Coalition meetings:[66]
ThePeople's Republic of China declared willingness to take part in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction on 18 March,[114] and according to the German newspaperDie Welt, China also contemplated joining the coalition of the willing if being invited on 22 March.[115] TheChinese Foreign Ministry later officially denied reports that China could ever join the coalition, as partaking in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine spearheaded by European leaders was viewed to conflict with its policy of neutrality in the Russo-Ukrainian War.[116]
^The title is the proper name and a common noun phrase.[94] First attested public usage of theacronym is inUK Ministry of Defence answer to a written question.[95] Later in 2025, the attested usage are in the Ukraine's,[1] Serbia's media,[96] in Finnish.[3] French usage is a calque from English, though acronym is not attested.[97] For translation influence on shaping conflicts discourse and information transitioning from local to international press andvice versa see the handbook.[98]
^French:Force multinationale – Ukraine,[99]Ukrainian:Багатонаціональні сили–Україна,romanized: Bahatonatsionalni syly — Ukraina,lit.'poly- (many-) /-national/forces (troops) — Ukraine'. Also known as deterrence (as in Ukrainian:сили стримування,romanized: syly strymuvannia and French:force de dissuasion), stabilization (as in French:force de stabilisation and Ukrainian:стабілізаційні сили,romanized: stabilizatsiyni syly), reassurance force (as in French:force de réassurance). MFU was used as an initialism before MNF-U acronym in usage.[100]
^abDefence Secretary statement on war in Ukraine (Speech).Defence Secretary,John Healey MP, provided an update to the House of Commons on the war in Ukraine. 17 July 2025. Retrieved19 July 2025 – via GOV.uk.More than 200 military planners from 30 nations have worked intensively for weeks, with Ukraine and including reconnaissance in Ukraine, led by UK personnel. [...] a future Multinational Force for Ukraine [...] will include a 3-star multi-national command headquarters in Paris, rotating to London after 12 months
^abPrime Minister's Office; Starmer, Keir (17 August 2025)."Statement of the Co-chairs of the Coalition of the Willing: 17 August 2025" (Press release). Retrieved18 August 2025 – via GOV.uk.The leaders also commended President Trump's commitment to providing security guarantees to Ukraine, in which the Coalition of the Willing will play a vital role through the Multinational Force Ukraine, among other measures.
^Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street (10 July 2025)."Lancaster House 2.0: Declaration on Modernising UK-French Defence and Security Cooperation".GOV.UK (Press release). Retrieved9 November 2025.f. Use the CJF structures to underpin the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine. The force will provide the joint planning framework to cohere the Coalition, ensure joint operational and strategic messaging. It will provide Coalition leadership and command and control for the planning and operational deployment of the Coalition covering all five domains, preparing for the operational deployment of the CJF in the event of a ceasefire – which can be supported by allies.
^Chapman, Jenny (31 October 2025)."Ukraine".Hansard.849. UK Parliament. Archived fromthe original on 8 December 2025. Retrieved8 December 2025.[...]that includes the deployment of a multinational force to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces once hostilities have ceased
"Putin insists Ukraine has to surrender territory for any deal to be possible". The Guardian. 27 November 2025. Retrieved28 November 2025.Speaking to reporters[...] Putin said Russia would halt its offensive only if Ukrainian forces withdrew from unspecified areas currently under Kyiv's control. "If Ukrainian troops leave the territories they occupy, then we will stop fighting," he said. "If they don't, we will achieve our aims militarily."... Kyiv would also be expected to accept reductions or a halt to US military assistance, while any future deployment of western troops to Ukraine – including those envisioned under the Franco-British "coalition of the willing" – would be explicitly banned.
^Michael Birnbaum; Robyn Dixon; Siobhán O'Grady; Francesca Ebel; Catherine Belton (26 November 2025)."Trump pushes Ukraine, Russia on peace deal, but key issues are unresolved".The Washington Post. Archived fromthe original on 25 November 2025.[...]after a meeting of leaders of many of the countries that back Ukraine, along with Zelensky and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Macron said that while Europeans supported peace, "several participants in our meeting also reported on their own direct exchanges with the Russians, including with President Putin. It is now clear that Russia has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire."
Jorge Liboreiro (25 November 2025)."Peace talks: France and UK insist on multinational force for post-war Ukraine".MSN. Retrieved26 November 2025.At the end of the gathering, which saw 35 countries and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio join online, Macron announced a "working group" would be set up to finalise the security guarantees and the contributions of each participant.
^Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street; The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP (11 December 2025)."PM call with the Coalition of the Willing: 11 December 2025" (Press release). GOV.uk. Retrieved11 December 2025.They reiterated their support for President Trump's efforts to put an end to the war, and underlined that any solution must fully involve Ukraine, preserve its sovereignty, be in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter, and guarantee its long-term security. They were clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. This remains one of the fundamental principles for preserving stability and peace in Europe and beyond.
^Michael D. Shear; Steven Erlanger; Christopher F. Schuetze (16 December 2025)."Ukraine Plan Calls For Enhanced Military, With U.S. and European Backup".The New York Times. Archived fromthe original on 16 December 2025.French and British diplomats are managing the proposal to deploy European forces in Ukraine as part of a group of about 30 countries they call the "Coalition of the Willing."
^Pollard, Luke (4 September 2025)."Ukraine: Peacekeeping Operations".UK Parliament. UIN 69956, tabled on 22 July 2025. Retrieved7 November 2025.Over 30 nations are working together to provide support forMNF-U.
^not named (17 November 2025)."Macron reçoit Zelensky en vue d'un accord d'armement 'historique'" [Macron meets Zelensky for 'historic' arms agreement].Radio Lac (in French). Archived fromthe original on 11 December 2025. Retrieved17 November 2025.Les deux chefs d'État devaient se rendre au siège de laforce multinationale Ukraine que Paris et Londres...
^Ponomarenko, Lesia; Rosendo, Lucía Ruiz (3 November 2025). "10.Narratives of war and frames of conflict across languages: Evolution over a century". In Lucía Ruiz Rosendo; Marija Todorova (eds.).The Routledge Handbook of Translating and Interpreting Conflict.Routledge,Chapman & Hall, Incorporated.ISBN978-1032407012.
^"Zelensky et Macron visiteront lundi à Paris l'état-major de la «force multinationale Ukraine»" [Zelensky and Macron will visit the staff of the "multinational force Ukraine" in Paris on Monday] (in French). AFP. 14 November 2025. Retrieved17 November 2025 – via mediapart.fr.Emmanuel Macron recevra lundi à Paris le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky, avec lequel il visitera l'état-major de la «force multinationale Ukraine» que s'efforcent de créer la France et le Royaume-Uni en vue d'un éventuel cessez-le-feu avec la Russie, a annoncé vendredi l'Elysée. [Emmanuel Macron will receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on Monday, with whom he will visit the headquarters of the "multinational force Ukraine" that France and the United Kingdom are trying to create in view of a possible ceasefire with Russia, theElysée Palace announced on Friday.]
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