British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he was ready to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine as a security guarantee for a potential future peace deal with Russia.
“I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way,” Starmer wrote in The Telegraph.
Starmer also said that any peace deal must include security guarantees from the US. “US support will remain critical, and a US security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace because only the US can deter Putin from attacking again,” he said.
The British leader said he was meeting with President Trump in the coming days and working with the US “to help secure the strong deal we need.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has already ruled out the idea of sending US troops to Ukraine as part of any deal and said if a peacekeeping force is deployed, it must be a non-NATO mission.
The Telegraph reported on Monday that Germany is expected to reject Starmer’s proposal for a European troop deployment to Ukraine. The report said there’s a split among European countries, with the UK and France supporting the idea and Poland and Germany less likely to participate.
The Kremlin said there are no serious discussions about a peacekeeping deployment despite all the talk from European leaders. “As of now, no substantial discussions have taken place on this issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Peskov also said the idea was “challenging” since it would involve the deployment of troops from NATO countries. “These are NATO member states, so if their troops were deployed in Ukraine, it would present significant complications,” he said.
Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has previously said that Moscow would consider any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine that are not under the authority of the UN Security Council legitimate targets of the Russian military.
Small numbers of British special operations forces have been on the ground in Ukraine throughout Russia’s invasion, but the presence has not been officially acknowledged by London. The Discord leaks revealed that as of March 2023, there were 50 British troops inside Ukraine.
Last year, a German military leak revealed British soldiers were on the ground in Ukraine helping fire US-provided Storm Shadow missiles.
Britain is having a crisis already about recruitment for the armed forces. Will we see scenes like in Ukraine with youths/men being press-ganged? Starmer is so at sea.
Out of 'is gourd, 'e is …
There was an article a few weeks back – maybe linked here? – that something like 1 in 7 or 8 UK soldiers in their comparatively small military can't be expected to be in combat if it's cold or hot outside or if there's a hill or a ladder or loud noises. Why? Because they're generally unwell. It sounds like Monty Python. These people are going to have another Charge of the Light Brigade against Russia? It'd go worse than the first one.
lol!
76% of the US can't go either.
Of the general population certainly, but what the article was referencing was active duty military!
… or Benny Hill…!
They are having their "but we were an empire??!" moment
rather… " But We Are Not a Collapsed Empire" moment…!
Starmer won't survive the next election, if he even makes it that long. I wouldn't put any credence in anything the stammering idiot says; he's an empty shell; just like Scholz and Macron, and Biden before him.
The only way the UK sends anyone is under the cover of a NATO mission, and Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, and most likely Germany and Poland will oppose it; as will the USA (as of today, although that could change).
Starmer has pensioners freezing because they can't afford to heat their homes, the NHS is in total disarray after decades of under-funding, his chancellor is dealing with a budget crisis because the state is broke, crime is rampant and out of control, immigrants are crossing the Channel in droves and he can't stop them… but don't worry Ukraine, Imperial Great Britain is riding to the rescue!
Except he doesn't have an army capable of "saving" Ukraine so he's flying to Washington to beg Trump to provide a "backstop" (i.e. send American GIs to Ukraine).
What a clown, what a circus!
Starmer wishes to be a Netanyahu style master over the US military budget and people.
The first thing I thought about when reading the headline was : "Good, Starmer send Harry the useless royal to fight in the Ukraine". His grifting wife could roll bandages for the wounded.
Are English troops ready and willing to go where they ordered by their government master?
No… They would rather defect to France swimming across English Channel…!
Starmer also said that any peace deal must include security guarantees from the US. “US support will remain critical, and a US security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace because only the US can deter Putin from attacking again,” he said.
He's right about the US being the only one to deter Putin from attacking again but not for the reasons he's pretending to think.
Rule Britannia?
It has been 80 years since WWII. Memories have faded. We're way overdue for a new World War.
The Brits cannot even start a local war let alone a World War…!
The "new World War" will last a day and when all done 100 millions of people will be dead. Is this what you want?
As if that's gonna make any difference…!
Magog is ready!
One salient Russia-Ukraine narrative isn't covered in the European press.
Andrei Martyanov mentions representatives from Hungary, Poland, and Romania are meeting with Russian specialists to discuss how each nation may reclaim the western Ukrainian territories lost during WW II.
I'm sure Ukraine's Western neighbors would love to settle some scores dating back to WWII and grab a chunk of Ukrainian territory. But that would exponentially complicate negotiations that are already very complicated; I would think that both the US and Russia would be wary of letting it happen.
But what do I know? Maybe that is the solution, a rump Ukraine.
One aspect is complicated by the assumption that NATO, in its present form, would move further east with the new boundaries. There's no reason to think otherwise.
These nations are experiencing extreme financial stress, so leaving NATO becomes a viable option. The radicals in Warsaw may think otherwise.
As Zelensky continues to destroy energy infrastructure entering Europe from Russia, European leaders may become critical of funding Kyiv's military campaign.
The EU is devoted to mass human decarbonization through societal destruction through various means. I'm not optimistic unless conservative parties retake the political reins.
One aspect is complicated by the assumption that NATO, in its present form, would move further east with the new boundaries. There's no reason to think otherwise.
These nations are experiencing extreme financial stress, so leaving NATO becomes a viable option. The radicals in Warsaw may think otherwise.
As Zelensky continues to destroy energy infrastructure entering Europe from Russia, European leaders may become critical of funding Kyiv's military campaign.
The EU is devoted to mass human decarbonization through societal destruction through various means. I'm not optimistic unless conservative parties retake the political reins.
https://www.rt.com/russia/612896-medvedev-ukraine-caspian-pipeline/
A Ukrainian drone strike on an internationally operated oil pumping station in Russia was an attack against US companies, the global oil market, and US President Donald Trump’s agenda, according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He likened the incident to a farm animal biting its owner’s hand.
The Kropotkinskaya station, which was struck by Ukrainian drones on Monday morning, is part of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which includes major American companies Chevron and ExxonMobil and transports oil from western Kazakhstan along with Russian products. The CPC reported a reduction in pumping capacity due to the attack.
Medvedev, currently the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, said in a post on Tuesday that the Ukrainian assault was a desperate attempt to show the West – and Trump personally – that Kiev could inflict significant damage if deprived of foreign aid.
”Trump has publicly declared his intention to lower oil prices. An attack on the oil consortium risks halting deliveries, destabilizing the market, increasing price volatility, and directly harming American companies,” he stated. “The CPC attack represents a triple blow to American businesses, the oil market, and Trump himself.”
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He went on to compare the Ukrainian government with a rabid farm animal that bites its owner, resulting in the difficult situation of having to decide whether to have the animal put down.
The strike on the Kropotkinskaya station came just a day before high-level talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia. The talks were aimed at improving bilateral relations and potentially forging a peace deal in the Ukraine conflict—which Trump pledged to do during the 2024 presidential campaign. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has preemptively rejected any agreements made without Kiev’s input.
The Trump administration intends to put the burden of Ukrainian security on America’s European allies after a truce with Russia is reached and to recoup US funds spent on the conflict by gaining privileged access to mineral resources controlled by Ukraine. EU officials criticized Washington for this during last week’s Munich Security Conference.
Just before the international gathering in Germany, Zelensky accused Russia of striking the containment structure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the 1986 disaster, with a kamikaze drone, claiming it was a “signal” to Western nations. Moscow has described the incident as a likely provocation by Kiev.
UK and France aside, couldn't imagine a worse look than German and Polish troops in Ukraine.
As long as the British don’t use Indian, Sri Lanka or North African as their frontline, I say let them eat Russian cake.