Anthony Albanese says Australia is ‘ready to assist’ Ukraine and are open to discussions about ‘potential peacekeeping’ -

Australia is considering joining a group of countries that are prepared to protect an eventual ceasefire of the Russia-Ukraine war, the UK said on Saturday.

Britain and France have been leading efforts to form the “coalition of the willing”, as the United States’ long-term commitment to Europe’s security is now in doubt under Donald Trump.

Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s Prime Minister, “spoke to the prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, this morning,” the UK leader’s office said on Saturday.

“He welcomed prime minister Albanese’s commitment to consider contributing to a coalition of the willing for Ukraine and looked forward to the Chiefs of Defence meeting in Paris on Tuesday.”

European countries have been rushing to boost support for Ukraine as Mr Trump pursues direct talks with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader, to end Moscow’s three-year-long invasion of Ukraine.

Several European states have said they would be willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as a “security guarantee” should the conflict be frozen along current lines.

Key details about the coalition have not been specified, but the grouping was mentioned by Starmer during a summit of European leaders in London last Sunday, which was aimed at guaranteeing “lasting peace” in Ukraine.

British officials have held talks with around 20 countries interested in being part of the group, a UK official said on Thursday. The official refused to name the nations but said they were “largely European and Commonwealth partners”.

Earlier this week, Mr Albanese told journalists that Australia was “ready to assist” Ukraine, but did not specify what form this assistance could take.

“There’s discussion at the moment about potential peacekeeping,” he said. “From my government’s perspective, we’re open to consideration of any proposals going forward.”

With EU leaders shaken by the prospect of US military disengagement in Europe, they agreed to boost the bloc’s defences at a crisis summit on Thursday.

Rallying around Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelensky’s blow-up with Mr Trump at the White House last week, European countries greenlit a plan to “re-arm Europe” against the perceived threat from Russia.

“We are moving decisively towards a strong and more sovereign Europe of defence,” Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council, told reporters after the talks.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is.”

Leaders endorsed the European Commission’s aim to mobilise about €800 billion (£671 billion) for defence spending, committing to examine “as a matter of urgency” its proposal to provide members with EU-backed loans of up to €150 billion.

The defence plan eases fiscal rules to allow states to spend much more – at a time when Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, is embracing radical reforms to fund the country’s rearmament.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, has also called for a defence spending surge and suggested extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners.

Trump’s pivot away from America’s transatlantic partners comes as he seeks a rapprochement with Russia to end the Ukraine war – raising fears Kyiv could be forced into an unfavourable deal.

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UK's Starmer gets poll boost as he steps up Ukraine diplomacy

The number of Britons who think Prime Minister Keir Starmer is doing a good job has risen as he steps up his role in diplomacy over the war in Ukraine, an opinion poll showed.

Starmer met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on February 27 and hosted talks involving Ukraine's president and European leaders on March 2. He has played up his role as a go-between while also trying to protect Britain from U.S. tariffs.

An Ipsos UK poll for The Times newspaper showed 30% of Britons now think Starmer is doing a good job as prime minister, up from 23% last month, although 45% said he is doing a bad job.

Ipsos carried out its polling online from March 4 to 5.

Starmer met Trump in Washington one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed in the Oval Office with the U.S. president, who has upended U.S. policy on Ukraine.

European leaders agreed at their talks in London last Sunday to draw up a peace plan to present to Washington, and European Union leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend more on defence.

The Ipsos poll showed 44% of Britons think government spending on defence should be increased, even if this means extra government borrowing, higher taxes or less money to spend on other public services - a rise from 42% in February.

Ipsos interviewed 981 adults aged 18-75 across Britain.

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Countries can't be forced into Ukraine peace coalition - minister

Countries cannot be "dragooned" into joining a coalition aimed at protecting potential peace in Ukraine, Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden has said.

The UK and France have been spearheading efforts to establish a "coalition of the willing" to deter Russia from further invading Ukraine, in the event of a peace deal.

Earlier this week, UK officials said about 20 countries were interested in being involved although not every nation would necessarily send troops to Ukraine.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, McFadden said the government wanted other European countries to "step up" and there were ongoing discussions, but added "it's their decision, they're sovereign countries."

Norway's foreign minister Espen Barth Eide told the same programme his country was "happy to contribute in one way or the other but we have not made choices".

"We need to know what is it that is there to be secured first," he added.

Russia has rejected the idea of seeing western troops in Ukraine saying it "can't be allowed".

Next week, the US and Ukraine will meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible peace agreement.

The US has suspended military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, in a move it hopes will put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire.

In recent days, Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified and Saturday saw 25 people killed in strikes including six children in the Donetsk Region.

US President Donald Trump has had a fractious relationship with Zelensky, which dramatically played out in front of cameras when the two men clashed in the Oval Office.

Trump later said he was finding it "more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine" than Russia in attempts to broker a peace between the two nations.

UK ministers have avoided criticising the Trump administration and McFadden told the BBC he still considered the US to be a "reliable ally".

Asked how UK ministers were handling the style of the new US president, McFadden said: "I think one of the lessons from it probably is not to react immediately to everything that is said.

"I think that's been the right thing to do."

He added it was "in the British national interest to maintain a strong alliance with the United States.

"It's long, it's deep, it's based on many, many things. It's been there for many years. We want to maintain that and that guides what we do."

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