More governments pledge to join UK and France in sending troops to Ukraine | 2 March 2025 | More countries have signed up to Britain and France's plan to send "peacekeeping" troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, Keir Starmer said. Speaking to reporters after a summit of European and world leaders in London on Sunday, the United Kingdom's prime minister insisted the "coalition of the willing" plan must have United States backing. Donald Trump's America was a "reliable ally," he said. "A number of countries" agreed to commit troops to a peacekeeping force during the summit, Starmer said, but he added that he would leave it to individual nations to announce their participation. It reflected a similar statement on defense spending made after the summit by NATO chief Mark Rutte. Rutte said he heard "new announcements" around the table for more European countries vowing to "ramp up defense spending."