London (TDI): British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become the first European leader to say he is ready to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, making the commitment ahead of an emergency leaders’ meeting in Paris to discuss Europe’s role in a ceasefire.
US President Donald Trump shocked Ukraine and European allies last week when he announced he had held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them to discuss bringing an end to the 3-year war.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, stated on Saturday Europe would not have a seat at the table for any peace negotiations.
Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Starmer, who is likely to travel to United States to meet Trump next week, said on Sunday that Europe was facing a “once in a generation moment” for the collective security of the continent, and it must work closely with the US.
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He said UK was ready to play a leading role in delivering security guarantees for Kyiv, including being ready to put “our own forces on the ground if necessary”.
“The end of this conflict, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to host leaders from Germany, Italy, UK, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, which will represent Baltic and Scandinavian nations, along with the European Union (EU) leadership and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Dozens of similar summits in the past have shown the 27-nation bloc to be dithering, disunited and struggling to come up with a cohesive plan to end Russia-Ukraine war on its doorstep.
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Britain is not an EU member but has been a leading supporter of Kyiv in its fight to repel the Russian invasion.
A peacekeeping force would raise the risk of a direct confrontation with Moscow and stretch European militaries, whose arms stocks have been depleted by supplying Kyiv and who are used to relying heavily on US support for major missions.
