Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Zelensky warns Putin is planning contemporary floor invasion regardless of ceasefire pleas

The coalition of the willing is growing. The attendance list for Sir Keir Starmer’s video conference was impressive. The United Kingdom is now at the head of a roll call of 26 nations in support of Ukraine. These included all the larger countries in Europe, including Italy – even if Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, repeated her refusal to put troops into Ukraine under any circumstances.

The European Union itself was represented, even if not all its members were. So was Nato. And there were the leaders of four countries outside Europe: Canada, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. The coalition is also backed, Sir Keir said, by Japan. Canada was represented by Mark Carney, its new prime minister, who understands that his nation must stand up to Donald Trump as well as to Vladimir Putin if either threatens it.

Italy has no plans to deploy peacekeeping forces on the ground in Ukraine to support a potential ceasefire, prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s office announced on Saturday.

The statement followed the ‘coalition of the willing’ hosted by Keir Starmer, where members discussed ways to bolster Ukraine’s security in the event of a peace agreement with Russia.

Meloni joined the virtual meeting alongside leaders from 24 other nations.

“The Prime Minister confirmed that Italy intends to continue working with European and Western partners and with the United States to define credible and effective security guarantees, reiterating that national participation in a possible military force on the ground is not envisaged,” the statement said.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said Australia could offer Ukraine a “small contribution” of peacekeepers if requested, though he emphasised it was too early to discuss specifics until Russia agreed to a ceasefire.

Albanese participated in the ‘coalition of the willing’ call chaired by Keir Starmer, and reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to standing up to “bullies” like Vladimir Putin.

“Vladimir Putin’s a bully. You know what Australians do? They stand up to bullies. They don’t get intimidated by an authoritarian leader engaging in that sort of rhetoric.”

He added that Australia would “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes” and expressed openness to considering new forms of support. However, he noted that any additional contributions would be based on Australia’s “capacity and comparative strengths.”

“It is the right thing to do and it is in Australia’s national interest. Because what happens in the Euro-Atlantic has serious implications for our region – the Indo-Pacific – and vice versa,” Albanese said in a statement.

Sir Keir Starmer has declared that plans to put a peacekeeping force in Ukraine have now entered an “operational phase”, as Britain prepares to host military chiefs from a group of Western countries ready to support a ceasefire.

Sending the strongest signal yet that the “coalition of the willing” is pressing ahead with the pledge to back a ceasefire deal with troops on the ground, the PM said allies would be prepared to “help secure Ukraine on the land, at sea and in the sky”.

“We won’t sit back and wait for Putin to act,” the prime minister warned, vowing to “keep pushing forward” with the plan for peace.

Ukrainian forces are holding their positions in Russia’s Kursk region, President Zelensky said, after US President Donald Trump’s claim on Friday that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops had been surrounded by Russian forces.

“The operation of our forces in the designated areas of the Kursk region continues,” Zelensky said. “Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region. There is no encirclement of our troops.”

Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky accused Moscow of massing troops along the border and warned that if Russia rejected the US proposal, Trump’s administration would deliver a “specific, harsh, and straightforward” response.

“The build up of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war.”

Russia and Ukraine exchanged intense aerial strikes overnight, with both sides reporting over 100 enemy drones over their territories on Saturday, reported Associated Press.

The Ukrainian air force reported on Saturday that Russia had launched an overnight assault of 178 drones and two ballistic missiles. Ukrainian forces managed to shoot down around 130 drones, while 38 others failed to hit their targets.

Russian strikes targeted energy facilities, causing severe damage to infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to a statement from Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK.

“The damage is significant. Energy workers are already on the ground, doing everything possible to restore power to homes as quickly as possible,” the company said.

Falling drone debris in Russia’s Volgograd region ignited a fire in the Krasnoarmeysky district near a Lukoil oil refinery, according to governor Andrei Bocharov. Local media reported that nearby airports temporarily suspended flights. No casualties have been reported.

Military leaders are set to convene in London this week to develop “robust” strategies for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

Following a call with world leaders on Saturday morning, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that preparations for the peacekeeping operation would progress to an “operational phase,” with senior generals scheduled to meet on Thursday.

“Our militaries will meet on Thursday this week here in the United Kingdom to put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace deal and guarantee Ukraine’s future security,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who participated in Saturday’s call, has expressed support for a European peacekeeping force backed by the United States as a means to ensure Ukraine’s security in the event of a ceasefire.

Sir Keir Starmer held a virtual meeting with 29 other world leaders to discuss peace in Ukraine.

The countries in the “coalition of the willing”, which include Britain, France, Australia and Canada, will discuss how to help Kyiv deter future Russian aggression in the event of any peace deal.

The leaders discussed how countries plan to contribute to the coalition of the willing, ahead of a military planning session next week.

After humiliating Zelensky into submission, Trump briefly put the ball into Putin’s court to accept a ceasefire, writes Jon Sopel. But the US president is not the master strategist he likes to think he is – and now has a crunch decision to make about what comes next