While visiting President Trump at the White House on Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to put “boots on the ground” in Ukraine to provide security guarantees as part of a potential future peace deal.
“I’m clear that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies, because that is the only way peace will last,” Starmer said at a press conference with Trump.
The British leader has been pushing for a European peacekeeping deployment to Ukraine despite Russia’s repeated rejection of the idea. Trump recently said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “no problem” with European troops being sent to Ukraine, but the Kremlin denied his claim.
President Trump was asked by reporters if the US would intervene if British troops in Ukraine came under attack, and he said the British could “take care of themselves” but that he would help if needed.
“If they need help, I’ll always be with the British, okay? But they don’t need help,” Trump said. “The British have incredible soldiers, incredible military, and they can take care of themselves.”
According to POLITICO, during the closed-door meeting, Starmer planned to ask Trump if the US could provide a “backstop” for the European deployment to Ukraine, meaning support with aerial intelligence surveillance and potentially air cover if Russia attacks, signaling Starmer is preparing for the possibility of a direct fight with Russia despite the risk of nuclear war.
It’s unclear if Trump and Starmer reached any kind of understanding over the potential peacekeeping deployment. But as things stand, Russia is saying that it will not accept the presence of troops from NATO countries inside Ukraine, so Starmer’s plan seems unlikely to happen.
Trump told reporters that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a future peace deal. He also appeared to walk back labeling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” over the lack of elections in Ukraine. When asked about the comment, Trump said, “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that.”
