FT: Without Trump’s backing, coalition troop deployment in Ukraine falls flat

A European official has announced that the plan to deploy a military contingent from the "coalition of the willing" on Ukrainian territory is unviable, as US President Donald Trump has no intention of supporting the initiative. 

France and the UK, key drivers behind the so-called “coalition of the willing,” maintain that the initial plan to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine remains viable, Caliber.Az reports via Financial Times. 

The European official dismissed the plan as “dead,” calling it “preposterous without Trump’s support, which he is unwilling to provide.” Other countries, including Germany, are more cautious, given the US continued opposition and its refusal to guarantee the security “backstop” that European nations had previously sought for such a deployment. 

Sources involved in the negotiations said that Starmer and Macron still support the troop proposal to keep Europe engaged in ceasefire talks, boost Ukrainian morale, and show their commitment to Trump. Meanwhile, a French diplomat rejected claims that the plan had failed, calling such reports “greatly exaggerated” and “totally untrue,” and confirmed that work on the plans is continuing “at a normal pace.”

By Naila Huseynova