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Europe's peace plan meets a U.S. aid pause
Summary
A look back at 4 March 2025, two days after London talks on a Ukraine peace plan and one day after Washington paused military aid.
What did Europe's new diplomatic effort amount to on 4 March 2025, when it ran into a decision from Washington? The two events, a day apart, framed the political picture on that date.
On 2 March 2025, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced, after a meeting of European leaders in London, that a "coalition of the willing" was working on a Ukraine peace plan. The group intended to present the plan to U.S. President Donald Trump. The London summit, officially titled Securing Our Future, had been called by Starmer to draft a peace plan to take to the United States.
On 3 March 2025, Trump paused all U.S. military aid to Ukraine with immediate effect. The pause landed one day after the European announcement, while the plan was still meant to be taken to Washington.
What the coalition was
The initiative was led by the United Kingdom and France. Later accounts describe it as growing to 34 countries pledging stronger support for Ukraine. Its members went further than the Ukraine Defense Contact Group by expressing readiness to join a peacekeeping force on Ukrainian territory, either with troops or in other ways. That force was envisaged for deployment only once Ukraine and Russia signed a comprehensive ceasefire agreement or peace deal.
Why the sequence mattered
The order of events showed where the weight lay in the discussion. European governments were organising themselves to offer a plan and a possible security role, and they were doing so as the United States halted its military aid. The plan was addressed to Washington, which had just changed its own course on support for Kyiv.
The coalition's peacekeeping concept also depended on a settlement that did not yet exist: it was to be deployed only after a deal between Ukraine and Russia. On 4 March 2025 that meant the European offer was a proposal for a later stage, while the aid pause was an immediate step.
