Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to enforce any peace deal.
In an exclusive article for the Telegraph, Starmer said he had not taken the decision to consider putting British servicemen and women “in harm’s way” lightly.
It is the first time he has explicitly said he is considering deploying British peacekeepers to Ukraine, and comes before a meeting with European leaders in Paris on Monday.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer opened the door to proposals for a Europe-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Photo / Getty Images
The emergency gathering was called by Emmanuel Macron, the French President, after it emerged European leaders had not been invited to early Ukraine peace talks between the US and Russia, and senior members of Donald Trump’s administration signalled US security support for Europe would be scaled back.
Starmer’s decision to speak out will put pressure on allies – especially a reluctant Germany – to publicly back the idea of a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine. The Prime Minister also suggested Britain could play a “unique role” as a bridge between Europe and the US in the Ukraine peace process.
The foreign ministers of Russia and the US will meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday to kick off talks over a peace agreement.
Ukraine has not been invited to the negotiating table and Starmer warned against cutting Kyiv out of the talks, likening it to the US decision to cut the Afghan government out of negotiations over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He wrote: “The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine’s military – where the UK has already committed £3 billion ($6.6b) a year until at least 2030.
“But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary. I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.
“But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent and the security of this country. The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, UK Prime Ministers have refused to publicly consider sending British soldiers to the country. But in recent weeks Starmer has opened the door to considering Macron’s proposals for a Europe-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
The idea has been increasingly talked about privately in Europe after it became clear Trump would never sign off US troops playing that role, with discussions centring on how to make sure Ukraine is never invaded again after any ceasefire.
A No 10 insider familiar with Starmer’s thinking said his decision to go public before the Paris meeting was in part a result of US statements at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, when US administration figures made it clear Europe would have to play a greater role in its defence.
The Prime Minister will join the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission, the European Council and Nato in Paris.
Exactly what a European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine would look like remains unclear. The Telegraph understands one proposal to be discussed is for European soldiers to be deployed away from the front line that would be established in a peace agreement.
Ukrainians would be deployed at the newly established border and soldiers from other European nations would be behind them.
‘Weakness leads to war’
But whether European allies would be willing to provide enough troops to make such a peacekeeping force effective remains to be seen. Some estimates suggest 100,000 soldiers would be needed.
In his Telegraph article, the Prime Minister wrote: “These crucial days ahead will determine the future security of our continent. As I will say in Paris, peace comes through strength. But the reverse is also true. Weakness leads to war.
“This is the moment for us all to step up – and the UK 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.”
Starmer is planning to discuss whatever agreements come out of the Paris talks with Trump in Washington, where the two leaders are due to meet before the end of the month.
The issue is becoming complicated by the UK wrangling over how fast and how far defence spending should increase in the coming years.
The Telegraph understands the Prime Minister is resisting private calls from military chiefs to go beyond the 2.5% GDP defence spending target. Spending is now at 2.3%.
But the British soldier count has been falling. Last spring, the number of Army troops dropped below 73,000 for the first time since the Napoleonic era.
The Prime Minister also called for Ukraine to be at the negotiating table after Trump went over Kyiv’s head last week with his 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, and Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s most senior Foreign Minister, will meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible peace deal. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, said on Sunday he would “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine”.
The Lychakiv Military Cemetery in Lviv, western Ukraine. Photo / AFP
Macron said he had spoken to Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about ensuring Europeans were at the centre of the process to secure a “solid and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major accused Trump of “cuddling up” to Putin and warned “tinpot” dictators would be emboldened if Russia were allowed to keep Ukrainian territory seized by force.
Starmer wrote: “We must be clear that peace cannot come at any cost. Ukraine must be at the table in these negotiations because anything less would accept Putin’s position that Ukraine is not a real nation.
“President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have shown the most extraordinary resilience and made such great sacrifices in the defence of their nation. We cannot have another situation like Afghanistan, where the US negotiated directly with the Taliban and cut out the Afghan government. I feel sure that President Trump will want to avoid this too.”
Meanwhile, the Telegraph can reveal military chiefs demanded that Starmer give the armed forces a “national arsenal” of futuristic weapons or risk war with Russia.
Senior Army sources confirmed military chiefs used face-to-face meetings with him on Friday to justify what their forces needed to fight the next war and say that investment would promote the government’s growth mission.
