Starmer's "coalition of the willing" in London Starmer's Desperate and Dangerous Attempts to Lead Europe in NATO's Unjust Proxy War with Russia
Workers' Weekly
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-25/ww25-25/ww25-25-01.htmDemonstration opposing the London arms show, September 9, 2025 - photo:PBI
On October 24, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer convened in London yet another desperate meeting of the "coalition of the willing" [1] with European powers to discuss the failing state of NATO's unjust proxy war with Russia in Ukraine which has lasted for nearly four years. It was trailed right up to the last moment that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, as well as the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, "are all expected to attend the meeting in person at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office today". The press release also claimed that "a further 20 leaders are expected to dial into the call". However, in the event the meeting was virtual, apart from the presence of President Zelenskyy, as stated in a later communique dated October 24, looking as if the intended participants were not so willing to be seen with Starmer. President Zelenskyy himself met King Charles at Windsor Castle, demonstrating the state's use of the King as part of its arsenal of "soft power".
Protests against the NATO Parliament, Dayton, Ohio - Photo:Hawkins
This vague government press release following the meeting [2] said: "Prime Minister and President Macron today co-chaired a virtual meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, attended by President Zelenskyy." The statement failed to mention Starmer's earlier claim that the "coalition of the willing" wanted to "step up the gifting of long-range capabilities" to Ukraine. However, the statement confirmed that the "coalition of the willing", particularly Britain, and France, want to occupy Ukraine themselves in any "ceasefire agreement" and state that "they confirmed that plans are in place to deploy a Multinational Force Ukraine once hostilities have ceased, with a view to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces".
Whilst in a previous meeting of the "coalition of the willing" in London in March, Starmer had claimed that the summit was to "present a peace plan to US president Donald Trump", with this summit Starmer desperately tried to sell his plans for long-range weapons and dangerously escalating the conflict with Russia and his plans to occupy Ukraine with NATO forces. Reports earlier in the week said that the "coalition of the willing" talks "come after discussions between Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Trump failed to result in the US supplying Tomahawk missiles and reports that the Ukrainian president faced pressure to accept Moscow's demands" to bring about a permanent peace deal proposed by Russia. A government press release from Downing Street claimed that the "coalition of the willing" are "global leaders" and represent the "international community". Starmer said that he "will urge leaders to act to take Russian oil and gas off the global market". He also went on to claim that it was in Britain's interest to steal Russian assets and supply long-range missiles to escalate the war. He said that Britain wants to "finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine's defences, and step up the gifting of long-range capabilities". The statement also said that "the meeting comes as the Prime Minister announces acceleration of missile delivery programme to deliver 140 lightweight multirole missiles to Ukraine this winter, supporting UK jobs".
Starmer goes even further in saying that the whole of Britain's "plan for change" in the economy is about weapons. He declares: "UK's national security - the foundation of the Government's Plan for Change - starts in Ukraine." Thus the "UK missile building programme has been accelerated to deliver more than 100 extra air defence missiles ahead of schedule. The package forms part of the £1.6bn deal between UK industry and Ukraine in March to provide more than 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles (LMM) to support Ukraine's defence, creating 200 jobs and supporting 700 existing jobs at Thales in Belfast."
This further reveals that Britain and its EU allies are not serious about reaching a peace agreement with Russia but are insanely dedicated to escalating the war as before, even if the US will not. They continue to encourage the regime in Ukraine to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. This is so even now when the situation for Ukraine gets worse on the battlefield and many of their experts tell them that the war is unwinnable. In fact, one of the primary aims of Britain, France and Germany alongside the US is to maintain the interest of the huge war industries and to occupy Ukraine themselves with their troops, navy and air force under the guise of "peace keepers" if they are forced to accept a peace deal and this is why they favour a "ceasefire" rather than a peace agreement with Russia. This is in line with the Starmer's government's plan to boost its military spending. Starmer had told the Commons in February that Britain would spend £13.4bn more on defence every year from 2027 boosting the spend to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. He also told Trump at a NATO meeting that Britain would commit to reach 3.5%, or even 5%, of GDP by 2035.
This has nothing to do with stimulating economic development, or meeting the growing needs of the British people for jobs and their needs in the economy. Rather it is to do with war - encouragement and escalation to war - where it becomes in Britain's interest to make sure that wars keep going as often and as long as possible to serve Britain's militarised economy. This only leads to a situation where the government and the war industries behind it demand the escalation of wars like the war in Ukraine and give their full support to Israel and arming Israel in its genocide against the Palestinians and blocking their recovery in their own lands by refusing to hold Israel to account. For this purpose Britain hosted the largest global weapons expo Defence and Security Equipment International[3] in London on September 8-12 with some 1,600 military companies and 51 companies from Israel, and more than 180 British companies exhibited in the ADS Pavilion alone - hosted by the UK's aerospace, defence, security, and space industry trade association (over 200 British companies overall).
War criminals road sign, London arms show, September 9, 2025
Starmer also claims that one of the aims of Britain and the EU powers is the defence of Ukraine's sovereignty. However, this principle that Starmer pretends to uphold cannot be sorted out by the US, Britain, France and Germany and other EU powers that have themselves interfered in and violated the sovereignty of Ukraine. Britain, Germany and France have also interfered and waged war against Russia and are doing so now by using Ukraine as their proxy to "inflict a strategic defeat on Russia", arming and assisting the war with logistics and weapons. Since 2013, Britain and the US have been training the Ukrainian military and incorporating known historical neo-Nazi forces into the army of Ukraine in order to expand their control eastwards against Russia. In 2014, there was Anglo/US active backing for these neo-Nazi forces to carry out a coup against the elected President of Ukraine and install a Ukrainian regime for their exclusive use against Ukraine's neighbour Russia.
In other words, the NATO powers have expanded into Ukraine in recent years and carried out one provocation after another against Russia in Ukraine. Since the 2014 Maidan coup, Britain and the US have encouraged the Kyiv regime to reject the Minsk accords that were peace agreements signed in Belarus by Ukraine and Russia, facilitated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and supported by Germany and France through the Normandy Format, and later endorsed by the United Nations [4]. Since the conflict began, Britain has consistently encouraged Ukraine to reject any peace deal with Russia. Boris Johnson notoriously flew to Kyiv in April 2022, six weeks after the conflict started, to tell Kyiv that signing a peace agreement in Istanbul would lose Anglo-US backing [5].
Starmer's "coalition of the willing" is yet another desperate and dangerous attempt to lead Europe in NATO's unjust and failing proxy war in Ukraine. Whilst they now call for a "ceasefire", the British and the old powers of Europe are desperate that no permanent peace comes about between Russia and Ukraine and are attempting to escalate the conflict and sabotage any peace deal that is made with Ukraine and Russia. All along Britain has continued its warmongering role in escalating the Ukraine war and being the first to supply modern battle tanks, Storm Shadow missiles and now Starmer declares that he will "step up the gifting of long-range capabilities".
Starmer claims that the British economy and his "plan for change" must be based in prosecuting the Ukraine war and in further militarisation of the economy. This is such a dangerous and insane direction for any economy. As the TUC recently demonstrated, the organised workers reject rearmament as not being a suitable foundation for the economy. Starmer's plan for the military and armament industries cannot be a part of the solution to the war in Ukraine which Britain helped provoke and continues to arm and escalate, endangering a wider war in Europe and the world. This must be opposed! Sending British or NATO troops to Ukraine must be resisted as a further escalation of the conflict. A lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia must be supported. Britain's dangerous warmongering must be blocked. The anti-war movement must prevail!
Notes
1. The "coalition of the willing" is reported to have 33 participants across Europe and beyond. The term "coalition of the willing" is an echo, presumably deliberate, of the Anglo-US-led powers that participated in the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.
2. Press release - Chair's statement following 24 October Coalition of the Willing Leaders' meeting
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chairs-statement-following-24-october-coalition-of-the-willing-leaders-meeting3. Key facts about DSEI 2025:
" Location: ExCeL Centre, East London
" Dates: September 8-12, 2025
" Exhibitors: Over 1,600 companies from 50 countries, including 25 from Poland and 51 from Israel
" Attendees: More than 50,000 visitors, including delegations from over 90 countries
" Theme: "Preparing the Future Force"
" Scope: Featured everything from small arms and armoured vehicles to combat aircraft and warships
It ranks alongside IDEX in Abu Dhabi and Eurosatory in Paris as one of the top three global defence expos.
4.The Minsk accords were peace agreements aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine (Donbas region). They were signed in Minsk, Belarus, and negotiated primarily by the Trilateral Contact Group-which included Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). The process was supported by Germany and France through the Normandy Format, but they were not formal signatories.
There were two main agreements:
" Minsk I: Signed on September 5, 2014
" Minsk II: Signed on February 12, 2015
The United Nations Security Council did endorse the Minsk II agreement through Resolution 2202, adopted on February 17, 2015, giving it international backing.
5. Boris Johnson visited Kyiv during the early stages of the war in April 9, 2022. According to reporting from Ukrayinska Pravda, Johnson used that visit to discourage President Zelenskyy from pursuing peace negotiations with Russia. The paper claimed Johnson told Ukrainian officials that even if Ukraine was ready to sign a deal with Russia, the West - particularly the UK and US - was not. This reportedly influenced Kyiv to pull back from talks that had been progressing in Istanbul.
