In a co-chairs' statement published by the UK Government on 24 August 2026, leaders of the Coalition of the Willing met in Kyiv and by video conference to mark the 35th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine's independence. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz alongside President Zelenskyy. The statement defines coalition support in terms of Ukraine's sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity, and links that support to Europe's wider peace and security. That framing places military assistance, sanctions, energy support and post-ceasefire guarantees within one policy package rather than as separate strands of action.
The co-chairs condemned what they described as Russia's systematic and escalating strikes against Ukrainian cities, civilians and critical infrastructure. The statement says those attacks have caused the highest number of civilian casualties since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and records damage to a children's hospital in Kyiv in the previous week. The statement also highlights attacks on cultural heritage sites, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. In policy terms, that widens the account of harm beyond immediate battlefield effects and civilian deaths, and keeps the protection of national identity within the coalition's description of the conflict.
On security policy, leaders restated Ukraine's right to defend itself under international law and Article 51 of the UN Charter. They also said irresponsible Russian threats would not deter further support, signalling continuity in assistance despite ongoing escalation. The next phase of help is described in operational terms. The coalition said it would increase military support, treat air defence as an urgent priority, deepen cooperation with Ukraine's defence industry and share relevant technologies, including through the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition. For governments and defence suppliers, that points to faster work on procurement, production and system integration.
The statement couples military assistance with a harder economic line. Leaders committed to ratchet up sanctions on Russia's military industrial complex and those supporting it, while also pursuing wider economic measures and stronger action against sanctions circumvention and Russia's shadow fleet. According to the co-chairs' statement, joint action to date has deprived Russia's war chest of at least $495 billion since February 2022. Leaders also welcomed efforts in the US Senate to apply further economic pressure on Russia and said they would work closely with the United States over the coming months. The stated objective is to narrow Russia's capacity to sustain the war over time while tightening coordination across sanctions regimes.
Energy support is treated as an immediate pre-winter requirement. Leaders agreed on the urgency of assistance for Ukraine's energy sector through the Ukraine Energy Support Fund and the provision of specialist equipment, reflecting concern about continued damage to essential infrastructure. Economic resilience is addressed in parallel. The statement says support must continue as Russia intensifies attempts to renew a maritime blockade on Ukraine's ports. That places trade access and winter preparedness in the same policy frame, with economic disruption being treated as a security issue as well as a commercial one.
The meeting also set out the coalition's public line on negotiations. Leaders commended President Zelenskyy's readiness to enter meaningful peace talks and reiterated their call for Russia to accept a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire starting from the line of contact. That wording matters because it separates a ceasefire from the wider question of a final settlement. The coalition is presenting a cessation of hostilities as the necessary first condition for further diplomatic and security arrangements, not as an endpoint in itself.
Alongside that, the coalition said it would continue preparing the Multinational-Force Ukraine for deployment once a credible cessation of hostilities is in place. The statement links that force to a wider package of robust, politically and legally binding security guarantees intended to protect Ukraine's future security and prosperity after a ceasefire enters into force. The closing message is one of continuity. On the anniversary of Ukraine's restored independence, the co-chairs again pledged support for Ukraine's independence as part of Europe's wider peace and security. Taken together, the statement sets out four immediate tracks: air defence, sanctions enforcement, winter energy support and post-ceasefire planning.