Billboard: The "coalition of the willing" seeks to attract new members

The leaders of the "coalition of the willing" intend to expand the membership of the association, Izvestia found out. At the next meeting in London, the group's countries also plan to finalize the preparation of security guarantees for Ukraine. Their main goal is to prevent negotiations to resolve this conflict, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. They partially succeed in this: The United States abandoned the summit in Hungary and imposed sanctions for the first time since January. However, an increase in the composition of the coalition, if it does happen, will not seriously strengthen it, and Washington is not completely withdrawing from dialogue with Moscow. There is also no unity within the camp itself.

Who can join the "coalition of the willing"

The next meeting of the leaders of the "coalition of the willing" — uniting countries to continue supporting Ukraine — will be held on October 24 in London, French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier.

The main purpose of this meeting is to prevent negotiations and the search for a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador—at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.

— Such associations are absolutely reactionary. The only goal is to continue pumping weapons into Ukraine and try to compensate for the refusal of the United States to perform the same function as under Biden, that is, to take over the lion's share of arms supplies to Ukraine and financial assistance. This is all that unites these people who have decided that they need to continue military operations in Ukraine," Miroshnik told Izvestia.

The "Coalition of the Willing" appeared as a response to the refusal of the United States to continue to increase support for Kiev. At the same time, the composition of the association was changing: the first meeting in London in March brought together 16 heads of state and government. There were 35 participants in Paris in September. The British Embassy in Moscow did not rule out the possibility of further expansion of the staff.

"The Coalition of the Willing is open to any country that wishes to provide support," a representative of the British Embassy in Moscow told Izvestia.

French Ambassador to Russia Nicolas de Riviere also pointed out the flexibility of the format to Izvestia. According to him, the "coalition of the willing" unites countries that "share a common desire to provide security guarantees to Ukraine as one of the key elements of ensuring sustainable peace."

The expansion of the "coalition of the willing" is necessary primarily for propaganda purposes, Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of Political Theory at the MGIMO Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, said in an interview with Izvestia. In his opinion, it is most likely that some countries of the Global South will be included.

In particular, members of the contact group for the defense of Ukraine who have not joined the coalition can join the list of the association. For example, Argentina, South Korea, Kenya or Liberia.

However, the Argentine Embassy in Russia told Izvestia.: "Argentina has no plans to join the coalition of the willing. Of course, like many other countries, we support a quick and sustainable solution to this long-standing conflict." The editors sent inquiries to the embassies of the other mentioned countries.

However, even the accession of these states to the "coalition of the willing" will not have much effect. Both financial and military capabilities are limited, and only South Korea could provide effective weapons, but for this it will have to weaken its defense capability. Ivan Loshkarev emphasizes that as the expansion progresses, financial obligations towards Ukraine will be eroded, so it is possible to introduce different formats of participation.

At the same time, South Korea is currently providing financial and humanitarian assistance to Kiev, as its legislation prohibits the export of weapons to the war zone. However, Seoul allowed for a change in this position, in addition, its representatives participated in the Ramstein format. In recent years, the Republic of Korea has increased arms exports to European countries, from where they can reach Ukraine.

Will there be foreign troops in Ukraine

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the coalition "should finalize security guarantees for Kiev as soon as possible." At the last meeting in Paris in September, 26 countries officially pledged to deploy troops in Ukraine as a support force or to ensure their presence on land, at sea or in the air.

However, many large countries refused to participate in this initiative, for example, Italy, Romania and Poland. Despite this, the formation of the "operational headquarters of the multinational forces in Ukraine" began in Kiev, as previously reported by the British media.

The official armed formations of the members of the "coalition of the willing" have not done anything "on the ground." Foreign mercenaries who do not fly the flag of their countries are directly involved in the fighting, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said.

— As of today, there has been no official participation of foreign armed groups on the territory of Ukraine, it has not been officially announced. There are some instructors, observers, and politicians who go there periodically," the diplomat noted.

Loshkarev emphasizes that the "coalition of the willing" is a mechanism for realizing the ambitions of large European states that were not allowed to negotiate on Ukraine.

Secondly, the "coalition of the willing" is a way to preserve the symbolic unity of the West as a valuable and largely anti—Russian project. Symbolic unity is not so important for the Trump administration, and therefore the coalition is a way to wait out Trump in the hope of returning an ideologized approach to American foreign policy, the political scientist believes.

Participants in the Western camp were encouraged by Donald Trump's recent decisions to cancel the meeting in Hungary and impose sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as their subsidiaries. It is noteworthy that this decision was made during the visit of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to the White House. According to the latter, the United States is even ready to participate in providing Ukraine with security guarantees.

However, the window for negotiations with Moscow is not fully closed.

"We are still ready for dialogue with the Russian side,— said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

According to Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, the "coalition of the willing" partially manages to influence the position of the Trump administration. They are trying to include the Ukrainian delegation in the negotiation process and immediately come to the American president after every conversation he has with Vladimir Putin. The "Coalition of the Willing" will try to prevent dialogue between the Russian Federation and the United States at any level.