‘Battle hardened’ Ukraine has role to play in defending Europe, says ex-Nato chief

The US’s attitude to the defence of Europe has changed permanently and a European coalition of the willing, including Ukraine , should be established to defend the continent, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Nato secretary general, has said. A coalition of the willing compromising 45 states is already in theory poised to act as a reassurance and training force inside Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement with Russia. Rasmussen, a former close adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy , is proposing an adaptation of the concept so that an expanded version of the coalition provides security guarantees for continental Europe, not just Ukraine. Rasmussen sees the coalition as an insurance force in case Donald Trump suddenly removes US troops and European defence partners are not ready to fill the gap. Anders Fogh Rasmussen has acted as a close adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photograph: Jussi Nukari/Shutterstock At a seminar on Monday on European defence, he said: “I would propose a coalition of the willing in which a number of European countries come together that are capable and willing to do what is needed to defend the continent, including Ukraine. The force would be led by the two nuclear powers in Europe, France and the UK.” Rasmussen’s proposal came two days before a meeting of five leading European defence powers in Berlin on Wednesday, to draw up a common defence strategy in the run-up to a Nato summit in Ankara on 7 July. …