Starmer invites Putin’s fury by committing British troops to Ukraine | UK | News
Sir Keir Starmer has argued that Britain should be allowed to send troops to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia.
The Telegraph reported how the Prime Minister had pressed other leaders to start drawing up concrete plans for accession, describing the commitment as a “vital” element of long-term security guarantees for Kiev.
Speaking to a virtual gathering of the “coalition of the willing”, he said: “Our military planners have worked really hard in recent months and will continue to work on the readiness of that force.”
He added: “And I urge my colleagues in this afternoon’s meeting to solidify their national commitments because we need to make sure we have the most robust capacity and the most robust plans on the table.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the session for the first time. The meeting came as officials in Washington and Kiev said they were close to finalizing a framework that could form the basis for ending the nearly four-year conflict with Russia.
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Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly considering a short trip to Florida to meet with Trump. Donald Trump At the Mar-a-Lago resort where the former president spent the Thanksgiving period.
But on Tuesday, Moscow signaled hesitation over the revised proposal, claiming Europe had “wasted its chance” by rejecting a proposal announced last week that was largely in Russia’s favour.
Analysts said Vladimir Putin still showed little sign of changing central demands, including additional Ukrainian territory and a ban on foreign troops patrolling areas bordering Russia.
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U.S. military secretary Dan Driscoll held talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday with an unnamed Russian delegation and Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, who rarely travels abroad.
Mr. Zelensky told coalition members that the United States and Ukraine were ready to move forward with a 19-point plan drawn up in Geneva last weekend.
Although national security adviser Rustem Umerov refrained from confirming a possible visit to the United States, he said that “the most appropriate date to complete the final steps will be decided in November.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “several sensitive but not insurmountable details” still require resolution between the United States, Ukraine and Russia.
The 19-point document is understood to have left the most contentious issues, including territorial concessions and NATO decisions, open for Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump to resolve later.
Reworked offer eliminates Russia’s key demands
The plan is a revised version of an earlier 28-point plan drawn up by US officials following talks involving the US president’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian Kirill Dmitriev, a back-channel contact between the Kremlin and pro-Trump figures.
The Russian-backed draft insisted that Ukraine hand over the remaining parts of the eastern Donbas region still under Kiev’s command, halve its army and accept a ban on foreign forces operating within the country.
Ukrainian officials claimed that these most controversial demands were removed from the final text.
Starmer signaled defiance to Putin
Sir Keir’s move could be seen as a direct challenge to Moscow over its insistence that any future NATO presence in Ukraine be ruled out.
The Prime Minister said: “We must return to this issue with a strong political guarantee to show Russia that we are serious about responding to any violation. And only if Russia believes that we are seriously responding to a violation can we say that this can pave the way for a lasting peace.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov harshly criticized Europe on Tuesday for its past role in trying to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine: “You had a chance.”
“So Europe, now when they say ‘Don’t you dare do anything without us’, you already had opportunities, you didn’t take them, you just failed to act,” he said.
These harsh comments were made at a joint press conference with Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, an ally of the Kremlin, after US officials held consecutive meetings with Ukrainian representatives in Geneva and Russian delegates in Abu Dhabi to negotiate a peace agreement.
French President Emmanuel Macron added that Britain, France and Türkiye were developing proposals for a “reassurance force” that could be sent to key locations, including Kiev and Odessa, once the ceasefire comes into effect.
