The conflict between Moscow and Kiev

Media, coalition of the willing in Ukraine blocked by lack of US OK

Group Defence Ministers meet today at NATO

10 April 2025

4' min read

The coalition of the willing, led by Great Britain and France with the aim of helping to guarantee security in Ukraine after the ceasefire, is in danger of stalling because it has so far failed to obtain any concrete commitment from the White House to provide security guarantees for Kiev. Today, the group's defence ministers met at Nato. According to Bloomberg sources, Great Britain and France have tried to convince Donald Trump to offer air power, border surveillance and intelligence instead of troops, but the US president has refused to make such commitments for the time being.

London: accelerating plans for Kiev but unknowns remain

"Our plans are detailed, substantial and real. But there are some well-known unknowns that cannot be resolved until the peace talks between the Russians and Americans are concluded'. This was said by the British Defence Minister, John Healey, meeting the international press, including ANSA. The willing will now 'accelerate' the planning process on four points: 'security in the air, sea and land' as well as the 'regeneration' of the Ukrainian forces.

US-Russia talks in Istanbul

Just this day there was the second round of consultations between the US and Russia: the delegations arrived at the Russian Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey. The Russian delegation is led by Moscow's new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, while the US delegation is led by Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Sonata Coulter. At the press briefing held two days ago, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce emphasised that these talks are aimed at facilitating "the stabilisation of our bilateral mission operations".

"There are no political or security issues on the agenda, and Ukraine is not - at all - on the agenda," he remarked, "these talks focus exclusively on the operations of our embassy, not on the normalisation of bilateral relations in general, which can only take place, as we have noted, once peace is reached between Russia and Ukraine.

In fact, at the end of the talks in Istanbul, it was reported that the US had expressed its concerns to Russia about the staffing of the US embassy, to restore some of the operations of their diplomatic posts that were drastically downsized after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The State Department reported this in a note. The US and Russian delegations agreed to sign an agreement on access to banking services for diplomats of the two countries, despite the US sanctions against Moscow.

While these agreements are being made, the US is abandoning work on the establishment of the Special Court for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. This was reported by European diplomatic sources and sources within the Council of Europe. The Special Tribunal will be established by an agreement between the government of Ukraine and the Council of Europe. The international organisation is to be responsible for the procedure of adopting the necessary legal texts for the establishment of the Special Tribunal, its subsequent signature and ratification by member states.

Kiev, 12 injured in Russian attacks overnight

On the ground, meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said that 12 people were injured in the overnight Russian attacks on the capital Kiev and the southern Black Sea region of Mykolaiv. The Kiev Air Force pointed out that Russia attacked with 145 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, and that 85 were shot down by air defence units. Emergency services said that 10 people were injured, three of whom were taken to hospital in Mykolaiv, and that a five-storey building caught fire during the attack. In Kiev, two people were injured and a warehouse caught fire. Local authorities stated that 16 of 30 drones were shot down over the Ukrainian capital. Overnight, however, Russian air defences shot down some 40 Ukrainian drones launched against regions of the country, according to the Defence Ministry on its Telegram channel. Thirteen unmanned drones intercepted over the Bryansk region, 12 over the Kaluga region, seven over the Kursk region and one over the Moscow region.

"Tens of thousands of Ukrainian military bodies in the Kursk"

Russian security agencies told Tass that the Moscow military is evacuating the bodies of tens of thousands of soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces from the border areas of the Kursk region. "The Kiev regime has not even attempted to evacuate the bodies of the killed soldiers. Moreover, many Ukrainian soldiers have died of wounds, abandoned by their 'brothers'. Currently,' they continue, 'the Russian military is also evacuating the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. The number is in the tens of thousands'.

Beijing: 'Irresponsible Kiev judgments on Chinese in war'

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, regarding Kiev's accusations of at least 150 Chinese military personnel fighting for Moscow, expressed the call "to refrain from any irresponsible comments". Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Beijing knows that the Chinese are recruited by Russia to fight in Ukraine, adding that he knows that at least 155 of them, and no doubt "many more", are there.

Kremlin, 'Zelensky wrong, we do not take China to war'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "wrong" to say that Moscow wants to drag China into the conflict after the capture of two Chinese fighting in the Russian ranks. China is "a strategic partner" of Russia, but on the conflict it maintains a "very, very balanced position", Peskov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.