U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, hoping to pressure not only the Europeans but also Donald Trump, announced in The Telegraph in an article last night that he would be willing to put British troops into Ukraine as part of a so-called peacekeeping force to “guarantee” Ukraine’s security. “Securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term is essential if we are to deter Putin from further aggression in the future,” he claimed. The article in Politics comes ahead of a meeting in Paris today with other European leaders where Starmer also intended to talk up the alleged need of Europe to increase up defense spending.
“The U.K. is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine...” which means “being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” Starmer writes. He claimed he feels “very deeply” about sending British troops into 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.”
But clearly the token offer of British troops to Ukraine is really part of a strategy of dragging the U.S. deeper into Ukraine in opposition to the statements of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President J.D. Vance last week. “But second, while European nations must step up in this moment—and we will—U.S. support will remain critical and a U.S. security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace, because only the U.S. can deter Putin from attacking again,” Starmer goes on. “So I will be meeting President Trump in the coming days and working with him and all our G7 partners to help secure the strong deal we need.”
The Telegraph reported separately that 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 U.S. statements at the Munich Security Conference, when U.S. administration figures made it clear that Europe would have to play a greater role in its own defense.
Lord Richard Dannatt, a former chief of the U.K. defense staff who just couple days ago demanded a massive increase in the U.K. military budget, responded to Starmer’s op-ed saying that while it’s all well and good to want to send British troops to Ukraine, the U.K. doesn’t have the troops to sustain a robust peacekeeping force. “My reaction is the Prime Minister is doing the right thing. But, of course, doing the right thing comes at a price,” he said, reported The Mirror. “Frankly, we haven’t got the numbers and we haven’t got the equipment to put a large force onto the ground for an extended period of time at the present moment,” he added.
