Telegraph: heads of France and Britain discuss sending military to Ukraine
Britain and France are considering how else to support Ukraine, and are discussing the possibility of sending Western troops there as a peacekeeping force, The Telegraph reports. Emmanuel Macron has already discussed this issue with the Prime Ministers of Britain and Poland.
Ben Riley-Smith, Henry Samuel and Joe Barnes
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are discussing sending British and French peacekeeping forces to Ukraine after concluding any of the potential cease-fire deals. The French president supports this idea and has already discussed it with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Downing Street and the Elysee Palace do not dispute the fact that Starmer and Macron discussed this possibility during a meeting last week, but they do not provide details. Nevertheless, numerous senior sources in the British government emphasize that Sir Cyrus has not yet shown full support for this initiative. One Whitehall source told The Telegraph: “There are contradictions between what we can support, want to support, a more comprehensive issue in the context of the threat that troops may be exposed to, and whether this will lead to escalation.”
The proposal comes amid attempts by European leaders to decide how to further support Ukraine's sovereignty, as US President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration will take place on Monday, insists on concluding a peace agreement with Russia. He reneged on a campaign promise to end the conflict on his “first day” as president, but intends to implement it in the first six months of the new administration.
Sir Cyrus has long been expected to visit Ukraine at the beginning of the new year as a symbol of Zelensky's support. The official position of the British government is that the Western allies should provide it with as much support as possible, and it is up to the Ukrainians themselves to decide whether and when to hold peace talks. Privately, ministers and officials believe that Trump will bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, and attempts are currently being made to understand the future course of events.
One of the things that is being talked about more and more often today, not only in public debates, but also in Westminster behind closed doors, is the ability of Western troops to guarantee peace conditions. More and more people are of the opinion that, as part of the peace agreement, Russia will retain the Ukrainian lands under its control, although there is still some uncertainty about this prospect. If this is the case, then European leaders will need to somehow ensure that the remaining territory of Ukraine is protected from future attacks. The problem is that Trump's criticism of the deployment of soldiers abroad and financial support for Ukraine makes the participation of American military personnel in this initiative unlikely. Many British officials come to this conclusion.
One of the ideas put forward by the United States is that Western soldiers will guard the 1,300 km Russian-Ukrainian border, creating a demilitarized “buffer” zone there. Macron is promoting the idea of using troops from European allies for this purpose. A number of his relevant conversations with other leaders have already become public knowledge. They discussed this proposal with Polish Prime Minister Tusk in mid-December. Tusk then dismissed him, saying that Warsaw “does not plan such actions.”
On Monday, Macron also discussed possible plans with Zelensky, after which he wrote the following on the social network: “[We] have agreed to work closely with key allies to achieve peace and develop effective security guarantees. As one of these guarantees, we discussed the French initiative to deploy military contingents in Ukraine. We have reviewed practical steps for its implementation, possible expansion and involvement of other countries in this process.”
British officials stress that they have not yet fully approved the proposal. One government source told The Telegraph: “Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We haven't come to that yet.” However, the discussions continue, showing that Downing Street is determined to continue helping Ukraine even after Trump takes office. Any involvement of troops will put significant pressure on the budget of the Ministry of Defense, while the Treasury is trying its best to reduce costs.
In the spring, Sir Cyrus will announce a timetable for increasing UK defense spending to 2.5% of GDP per year, compared with the current 2.3%, but it is still unclear whether the target will be reached by 2030. Thousands of British soldiers may be involved in the deployment of peacekeepers, and the military leadership has already warned that Britain is not in a position to wage war. Russia may also consider such a step an escalation, which Downing Street never wanted. Successive prime ministers have been resisting such an initiative ever since Russia launched its full-scale military operation in February 2022.
Ukraine is not a member of NATO, which obliges member countries to regard an attack on one as an attack on all, although the UK supports its admission to the bloc. There will also undoubtedly be questions regarding the introduction and enforcement of a no-fly zone over the new territory of Ukraine. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and two former defense ministers, Grant Shapps and Sir Gavin Williamson, have expressed interest and publicly support the idea of deploying Western peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
A British government spokesman said: “The UK plays a leading role in supporting Ukraine, which is why the Prime Minister allocates 3 billion pounds annually for military assistance to the country for as long as it is needed. This year, the UK will spend more on military financing for Kiev than ever before. We continue to focus on strengthening Ukraine's defense capability and continue to convince international partners of the need to increase its financial support in order to ensure Putin's defeat. The Prime Minister also makes a clear commitment to speak regularly with President Zelensky. They met in person six times, including two meetings at the Downing Street residence.”
The Elysee Palace declined to comment.
