British Prime Minister declares readiness to send peacekeepers to Ukraine
17 February 2025 08:02
The UK is ready to send its troops to Ukraine to ensure the implementation of any peace agreements. This was stated by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an interview with The Telegraph, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
This is the first time he has explicitly stated that he is considering deploying British peacekeepers to Ukraine, and comes ahead of a meeting with European leaders in Paris on Monday.
The emergency meeting was called by French President Emmanuel Macron after it emerged that European leaders had not been invited to the first peace talks on Ukraine between the US and Russia, and senior members of Donald Trump’s administration said that US security support for Europe would be cut.
“The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating the work on security guarantees for Ukraine… This means a readiness and willingness to contribute to providing security guarantees for Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” Starmer said.
He added that the UK continues to support the Ukrainian military with £3 billion a year until at least 2030.
“But any role in helping to guarantee the security of Ukraine is helping to guarantee the security of our continent and the security of this country. The end of this war, when it comes, cannot be just a temporary pause before Putin attacks again,” the British prime minister said.
The UK can play a “unique role” as a bridge between Europe and the United States in the peace process in Ukraine, Starmer emphasized.
“These crucial days ahead will determine the future security of our continent. As I will say in Paris, peace comes through strength. But the opposite is also true. Weakness leads to war… This is a moment for all of us to step up – and the United Kingdom will do so because it is the right thing to do for the values and freedoms we hold dear and because it is fundamental to our own national security,” he explained.
There are no details yet on what a European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine would look like. One possible suggestion is that European troops should be deployed away from the front line established by the peace agreement.
