March 4, 2025 (EIRNS)—On March 3, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer put forward the notion of a “coalition of the willing” to provide support to Ukraine without the U.S. But, the New York Times asked yesterday: “How many countries will step up, and does that even matter, given Russia’s rejection of such a coalition as part of any settlement?”
According to the Times, the presumptive next Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz is scrambling to get at least €200 billion for defense in the current parliament, because he might not be able to get it through in the next. President Emmanuel Macron of France said the nascent British-French plan would begin with a one-month truce between Ukraine and Russia. Any deployment of peacekeeping troops would come only after that, he said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro on Sunday evening, March 3.
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico are threatening to throw a monkey wrench into the whole affair. They are demanding that the European Union push for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Both have threatened to block statements of support for Ukraine, which both countries border, at an EU summit meeting this week. Neither leader was invited to the gathering in London, the Times notes.
