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Category: Politics
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Author: 1News Reporters

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will join a phone call with other world leaders tomorrow night to discuss the potential deployment of peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of the "coalition of the willing".

The call, which is being arranged by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, would also include the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Canada.

Australia's Anthony Albanese will also join.

An initial meeting of leaders in London was held this month and a meeting of defence officials in Paris took place earlier this week.

New Zealand defence attaché Brigadier Lisa Ferris was present at the latter meeting.

Defence ministers from some European nations also met this week.

More than 30 countries have been involved in discussions on how to help Ukraine, including the possibility of an international peacekeeping force to be sent to the country, should a ceasefire be agreed with Russia.

Luxon this afternoon confirmed that he would take part in the call on Saturday night (local time).

"It will be a chance for an update as to the different lines of diplomatic efforts that are going on around securing peace in Ukraine. I'm looking forward to participating in that tomorrow night."

He told 1News the call would occur immediately before he left New Zealand on a visit to India.

Luxon and Volodymyr Zelensky at a NATO conference in Washington DC in July 2024 (file image).

Luxon said last month he was "open" to New Zealand providing peacekeepers in Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached.

"I think that is something that would be open to, but obviously it's speculative at this point, but we do support a lot of peacekeeping missions around the world, if this is something that I think we would be open to talking [and] working through," he said.

"We have New Zealanders in really difficult, challenging parts of the world, and we have for many decades actually serving in peacekeeping missions all around the world."


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He added that he was "proud" of the current commitment from New Zealand to Ukraine, with personnel deployed in Europe as part of Operation Tīeke, contributing to international efforts to assist Ukraine's self-defence following Russia's invasion.

"We're a long way away from this theatre of war. But, for me, this is a values thing," Luxon earlier said. "This is a small sovereign nation state that has been hit by an illegal war from a very big power and that's unacceptable."

Russian President Vladimir Putin this morning said he agreed in principle with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but the terms needed to be worked out.

"The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin told a news conference in Moscow. "But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners."

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Article: https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/03/14/luxon-to-join-ukraine-coalition-of-the-willing-peacekeeping-call/
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