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UK ready to send troops to Ukraine: Starmer

2025-02-17 HKT 11:18
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  • British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK could send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. File photo: AFP
    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK could send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. File photo: AFP
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send UK troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force as he tried to show the US that European nations should have a role in the talks on ending the conflict.

Starmer said he had not taken the decision to consider putting British servicemen and women "in harm's way" lightly, but securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was essential to deter further aggression.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said Ukraine and Europe would be part of any "real negotiations" to end Moscow's war, signalling that US talks with Russia this week were a chance to see how serious Putin is about peace.

The end of Russia's war with Ukraine "when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again," Starmer wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Starmer's comments were the first time he has explicitly said he is considering deploying British peacekeepers to Ukraine.

He has previously said that Britain was willing to help play a part in any peace deal that is negotiated.

In the article, Starmer said he was prepared to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by "putting our own troops on the ground if necessary".

"I do not say that lightly," he wrote.

"I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm's way."

Starmer is expected to join German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other European leaders in Paris on Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron convened talks on Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump stunned European allies in Nato and Ukraine last week when he announced he had held a call with Putin without consulting them and would start a peace process.

Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, then suggested Ukraine and other European leaders would have no place at peace negotiations.

US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start talks aimed at ending Russia's nearly three-year war in Ukraine. (Reuters)

UK ready to send troops to Ukraine: Starmer