Ukraine’s European allies work on peace plans while bolstering military support for Kyiv

The United Kingdom and France convened the first Defence Ministers’ Ukraine Coalition of the Willing meeting in Brussels on 10 April 2025 to progress planning to support a lasting peace in Ukraine.

Around 30 nations were hosted by UK Defence Secretary John Healey and French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, with the meeting focusing on how the capabilities of each nation in the Coalition could be best used to support Ukraine’s long-term defence and security.

A UK Ministry of Defence press release noted that Healey would tell the meeting, “A couple of weeks ago I visited the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters, where military leaders from around 30 nations were developing options and progressing plans. I was struck by their sense of historic responsibility to secure the peace in Ukraine and to strengthen European security for all our nations.

“We cannot jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war, so we must put even more pressure on Putin and step up our support for Ukraine – both in today’s fight and the push for peace. Our commitment is to put Ukraine in the strongest position to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and deter future Russian aggression.”

The 10 April meeting in Brussels came after UK Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin travelled to Kyiv with French military chiefs on 5 April to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and Ukrainian military leaders to update and discuss planning.

On 11 April, meanwhile, the UK and Germany co-chaired the 27th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, where 50 nations attended and collectively pledged a further EUR 21 billion in military aid to Ukraine.

Despite the efforts of Ukraine’s allies, however, along with US efforts to broker a ceasefire, there is no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to genuinely move towards a peace agreement.

On 18 March, during a call with US President Donald Trump, Putin rejected an immediate and full ceasefire in Ukraine, but did agree to a 30-day halt to attacks on energy infrastructure by both sides. By that evening, however, Zelenskyy was already reporting fresh Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, noting, “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.”

On 11 April US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg for what was the third meeting between the two in 2025 to discuss a cease fire in Ukraine. Before the talks, however, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was “no need to expect breakthroughs”.