Defense ministers from around 30 countries gathered on Thursday to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The meeting at NATO headquarters — the first between defense ministers representing the so-called coalition of the willing — comes after a visit to Kyiv last week by senior British and French military officers. It’s expected to work on fleshing out an agreement reached at an earlier meeting between leaders. As usual with coalition gatherings, the United States will not take part, but the success of the coalition’s operation hinges on U.S. backup with airpower or other military assistance. However, the Trump administration has made no public commitment to provide support.
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