Anthony Albanese has joined world leaders including Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer in talks about ending Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, discussing plans for an international peacekeeping force if and when a ceasefire is negotiated.<\/p>\n
The Coalition of the Willing talks<\/a> followed on the heels of Albanese\u2019s latest phone conversation with Donald Trump overnight on Thursday, before a possible face-to-face meeting in Washington DC this month.<\/p>\n Along with President Volodymr Zelenskyy, world leaders at the Ukraine<\/a> meeting discussed continued support for the country\u2019s fight against Moscow\u2019s invasion, and plans for peace, once a deal can be locked in with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n The French president and the UK prime minister are leading the group, which also includes the leaders of New Zealand and Canada. Together, leaders on the call restated their commitment to stand with Ukraine \u201cfor as long as it takes\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia stands with Ukraine in its fight against Russia\u2019s illegal and immoral invasion,\u201d Albanese\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWith our partners we will keep working towards just and lasting peace for Ukraine on its own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n Zelenskyy welcomed the discussions as a \u201cserious concrete step\u201d towards peace.<\/p>\n International troops would not be deployed \u201con the frontline\u201d but aim to \u201cprevent any new major aggression\u201d, Macron said.<\/p>\n Albanese has left open the possibility of Australian troops joining European forces in Ukraine. In March the prime minister said Australia \u201cstands ready to assist\u201d Ukraine and the government has pledged to consider any request to contribute forces.<\/p>\n The prime minister is expected to visit Starmer in London after trip visit to the US.<\/p>\n Albanese welcomed his \u201cwarm and constructive\u201d phone call with Trump, which included discussion of trade, shared security interests and economic ties.<\/p>\n The two leaders discussed critical minerals \u2013 a key bargaining chip Australia hopes to use in negotiations with the US in the face of Trump\u2019s aggressive tariff regime.<\/p>\n It was the pair\u2019s fourth call and comes two weeks before Albanese is due to head to New York for the UN general assembly meeting.<\/p>\n The federal government hopes the trip will also include the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Albanese, after their planned June meeting at the G7 summit in Canada was cancelled at the last minute.<\/p>\n Albanese\u2019s team is working hard to lock in a meeting, potentially at the White House, after last week\u2019s visit by the defence minister, Richard Marles<\/a>, to Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cThe leaders discussed economic cooperation between Australia and the United States,\u201d a spokesperson for Albanese said.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThey spoke about opportunities to work together on trade and critical minerals in the interests of both nations.<\/p>\n \u201cLeaders also discussed the strength of our relationship and the importance of our shared security interests.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese posted about his call with Trump on social media, calling it \u201cwarm and constructive\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe discussed our trade and economic relationship as well as areas for growth including critical minerals. We also discussed shared US-Australia security interests.\u201d<\/p>\n