Steel porcupine: Europe will continue to supply weapons to Kiev and pressure on Russia

Europe will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine and economic pressure on Russia. This was stated by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following today's summit in London.

At the same time, he announced Europe's participation in the process of resolving the Ukrainian conflict, including sending peacekeepers — "boots on the ground and planes in the sky," but only if a peace agreement is signed.

The UK and France will develop a plan for the cessation of hostilities on Ukraine, the British Prime Minister noted.

According to him, this cannot be done without the support of the United States, which remains London's "most reliable ally." Starmer said he would soon hold a new meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss plans for Ukraine.

He plans to involve Russia in negotiations on Ukraine "at the end of the deal."

Starmer also said that Europe plans to create a "coalition of goodwill" that will monitor the likely peace agreements, while acknowledging that not all countries in the region will support this.

"We will continue to develop the coalition to protect the agreement on Ukraine and guarantee peace. Not all countries will be able to contribute, but this does not mean that we will sit idly by. On the contrary, those who wish to step up planning now ... the UK, together with other countries, is ready to support this idea with the help of ground equipment and aircraft in the air," Starmer said.

The British Prime Minister, followed by the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, urged to prevent a repetition of the Ukraine of the Minsk agreements or the "Afghan" scenario.

It is noted that concrete decisions at the summit, obviously, have not been made. According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Europe has yet to work out security guarantees for Ukraine and the parameters of a peace agreement.

"We must prepare for the moment of the announcement of the truce on Ukraine and to protect the world," he also said following the summit in London.

Security guarantees for Ukraine or sending troops to this country were not discussed in London, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, in turn, at a press conference following the talks.

When asked about the preparation of a ceasefire plan or peace talks, he said that "no one has presented such a plan now."

"There is a sense of chaos and spontaneous actions... everyone would like to avoid performances like the one that happened in Washington," Tusk said.

Now we need a gradual and thorough calm study of the issue, he added.

Earlier, speaking at the summit, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called for turning Ukraine into a "steel porcupine."

Using somewhat unusual images, von der Leyen said that Europeans need to work to "basically turn Ukraine into a 'steel porcupine', indigestible for potential invaders." Interestingly, word for word, this is the same language that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used a few days ago," The Guardian notes.