Leaders pledge troops to safeguard Ukraine – but Australia yet to declare

London/Washington: Global leaders have pledged to send troops and other forces to Ukraine to guarantee its security in a potential peace deal with Russia, with 26 nations backing the plan in a move to intensify efforts to end the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the military commitment as a “reassurance force” after he emerged from talks with dozens of leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a “coalition of the willing” to help Ukraine.

But Russia on Friday appeared to rule out any security role for foreign forces, and President Vladimir Putin warned that any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Moscow to attack.

“If decisions are reached that lead to peace, to long-term peace, then I simply do not see any sense in their presence on the territory of Ukraine, full stop,” Putin said.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump highlighted the responsibility of major European nations to do more to stop the fighting, telling them to stop buying Russian oil and to place more pressure on China over its funding of the Russian war machine.

The Trump administration also flagged further announcements about the war, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had asked the US president to provide more help to defend Ukraine against aerial attacks.

Macron said the meeting, convened in Paris and joined by many leaders online, had agreed to send troops and other forces to Ukraine, but did not seek to fight Russia and would not deploy assets on the front line.

“We have today 26 countries who have formally committed – some others have not yet taken a position – to deploy as a reassurance force troops in Ukraine, or be present on the ground, in the sea, or in the air,” he said at a press conference alongside Zelensky.

“This force does not seek to wage any war on Russia. It is a force to guarantee peace.”

Albanese confirmed his support for Ukraine in a brief statement after the meeting, but did not say whether Australia would send any forces in the event of a peace deal. He has previously said he would consider proposals, but has not pledged troops.

“Australia stands with Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion,” he said.

“With our partners we will keep working towards just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”

The summit included 35 leaders, including from Canada, Japan and New Zealand as well as British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and most leaders of European Union member states.

While Macron and Starmer have spoken of sending troops in the past, the new pledge is a significant move from a broad group of nations. Macron did not list the 26 nations making the commitments.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was willing to deploy “direct and scalable military assistance” to uphold a ceasefire.

Trump told European leaders they must stop buying Russian oil and put economic pressure on China over its funding of Russia’s war on Ukraine, in a message that exposed US frustrations with Europe about the ongoing conflict.

“President Trump emphasised that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war, as Russia received €1.1 billion [$2 billion] in fuel sales from the EU in one year,” a White House official said in a statement. “The president also emphasised that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts.”

The sales figure appeared to underplay sales of Russian energy to EU countries, which persist in some forms despite a ban announced after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to Eurostat, the EU imported €1.75 billion of petroleum oil from Russia in the second quarter of 2025 alone.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said the EU had cut its imports of Russian oil by 88 per cent over two years to 2024, but that there was no further cut despite promises to apply pressure on Moscow.

Hungary, an EU member that often sides against Ukraine, increased its purchase of Russian oil by 30 per cent last year, said Vaibhav Raghunandan, a CREA analyst in Amsterdam.

“The irony of this is quite plain because Hungarian leaders have openly embraced and shown admiration for the US administration, while also quite clearly defying one of their key foreign policy objectives vis a vis Russia,” he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained ties with Putin while also expressing admiration for Trump.

Trump’s directive for the Europeans to put economic pressure on China over its funding of Moscow’s war effort stands in contrast to his own decision to spare China from punitive tariffs while imposing them on India, which also buys oil from Russia.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, one of Trump’s closer allies in Europe, said the US president wanted the Americans and Europeans to act in tandem on further sanctions against Russia.

“Trump’s approach was very much that we must act together on sanctions policy and now look for ways in particular to halt Russia’s war machine by economic means,” Stubb told Finnish media after the meeting.

“In that case, there are two targets, namely oil and gas. The president of the [European] Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and President Trump’s close advisers will discuss this over the next 24 hours.”

With Reuters and AP

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