Europe remains committed to the idea of continuing the war to the “last Ukrainian.”
Author: Ali Askari, analyst (Germany), especially for “Sangar”
On August 24, 2026, a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” was held in Kyiv. The countries participating in the coalition announced plans to deploy troops to Ukraine.
“The Coalition will continue preparations for the deployment of multinational forces in Ukraine following the establishment of a reliable cessation of hostilities,” according to a communiqué published by the office of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
On the eve of the meeting, Paris announced its intention to provide Kyiv with new air defense systems. French President Emmanuel Macron said that, to strengthen its air defenses, Kyiv would receive the “first batch of batteries” of the “new-generation” SAMP/T medium-range surface-to-air missile system, jointly produced by France and Italy. Paris and Rome agreed to accelerate deliveries of Aster 30 missiles and also authorized the licensed production of these missiles in Ukraine, Macron wrote on the social media platform X. Downing Street also announced that London intends to provide Kyiv with classified information to enable the production of long-range SCALP missiles in Ukraine.
The Kremlin stated that the plans of the “Coalition of the Willing” make its members full-fledged participants in the conflict.
“Britain is participating in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain is methodically and regularly adding fuel to the fire. It is plotting to prevent any progress whatsoever in the peace settlement process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The absence of contacts with the other party to the conflict — Russia — as well as the promotion of solutions for Ukraine that are known in advance to be unacceptable to Moscow (the deployment of a European contingent), demonstrate the commitment of the members of the “Coalition of the Willing” to the idea of continuing the hostilities to the “last Ukrainian.”
It should be noted that Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, stated in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper in February 2026 that a simple ceasefire or a hasty end to the conflict in Ukraine without reliable security guarantees would not serve Europe’s interests. According to him, in the event of a ceasefire, the threat on NATO’s eastern flank could increase. Ischinger regularly promotes the argument that the war in Ukraine should continue. At the same time, he has never once mentioned either the Ukrainian people or the soldiers who are dying by the hundreds of thousands for “European security.”
The policies of Europe’s left-liberal elites not only contribute to prolonging the confrontation and causing new casualties on both sides, but also increase the risk of an escalation of the crisis. At the same time, the actions of European leaders, carried out under the pretext of the “need to achieve a just outcome to the war,” are in reality driven by their desire to have their importance on the world stage recognized. Another objective of the “Coalition of the Willing” is to justify to the European public the need for increased military spending.
