Prime minister Dick Schoof has given his support to British and French plans for a “coalition of the willing” to end the war in Ukraine, but stopped short of pledging further military support following a meeting of national leaders in London.

Schoof said the main purpose of the meeting, which included Canada, Turkey and Norway as well as several EU member states, was “to make very clear that we will continue to give our undiminished support to Ukraine”.

UK prime minister Keir Starmer said after the meeting that Europe “must do the heavy lifting” to support Ukraine and come up with an alternative peace plan to the ongoing talks between the United States and Russia.

“Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency,” Starmer said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said EU nations needed to “show the US that we are ready to protect democracy”. The commission will present plans to fund extra military spending to the council of ministers on Thursday.

Boots on the ground

Unlike Starmer, who said the UK was prepared to provide “boots on the ground and planes in the air” and announced a £1.6 billion (€2 billion) export finance package to buy 5,000 air defence missiles, Schoof did not immediately commit further military aid, which would need to be signed off by the cabinet in The Hague.

He also said the United States continued to be “fully involved” in western support for Ukraine, despite the fall-out from the meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last Friday.

Zelensky left without signing a deal giving the US access to Ukrainian mineral resources after a press conference descended into an angry exchange, where Trump and vice-president James Vance accused him of being ungrateful for US support.

Schoof said: “America is a reliable member of Nato and stands for Article 5 [All Nato members will defend a member state that comes under attack]. There is no dispute about that.

“At the same time, Europe must do more for itself, because America is no longer focused solely on Europe, but on other parts of the world.”