Keir Starmer is said to be set to abandon plans to send UK troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force – but a Cabinet member said ‘all options’ are on the table
Keir Starmer may roll back from his pledge to sent troops to Ukraine if a peace deal is secured, it is claimed.
The PM is said to be on the verge of abandoning plans to deploy a British peacekeeping force if the war ends because the risks are “too high”. Instead military trainers could be sent, according to reports.
Mr Starmer has been putting together a “coalition of the willing” – a group of nations prepared to enforce a peace deal. But he has insisted that it should be backed by a US security agreement which has so far been a sticking point with Donald Trump’s White House.
Russia has indicated it would not agree to a peace deal that would allow foreign troops inside Ukraine. On Friday morning Cabinet minister Steve Reed said “all options remain on the table” but did not deny the claims, made in The Times. The Environment Secretary said: “There haven’t been any decisions taken yet, but all options remain on the table, whether that’s land, air or sea.
“We need a strong alliance of countries – a coalition of the willing as the Prime Minister calls it – to make sure that any peace deal can hold, because nobody wants to see this situation happening again in Ukraine.”
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Asked about the reports, Mr Reed told Sky News that “those negotiations are still under way”.
Mr Starmer previously said he was prepared to send a peacekeeping force once a deal to end the war is reached. He warned that unless European nations step up, tyrant Vladimir Putin will strike again.
But an insider told The Times: “The risks are too high and the forces inadequate for such a task. This was always the UK’s thought. It was France who wanted a more muscular approach.”
The source said sending troops into Ukraine would run the risk of Britain getting dragged into a wider conflict. It is understood the UK and France hope Mr Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he travels to Rome for the Pope’s funeral at the weekend.
Mr Starmer previously indicated he was willing to send British troops “for as long as it takes”. In February he said he was “ready and willing” to send British troops to Ukraine to help keep the peace if a deal is signed.
Writing in the Telegraph, the PM said: “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 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.”
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