London is reportedly hesitant about the idea, according to government sources
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed sending soldiers into Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, the Telegraph has claimed citing anonymous sources.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky first mentioned the idea last week, and said he would discuss it with Starmer when he visits Kiev. According to the British outlet, however, Starmer is not fully on board yet.
“There are challenges over what we could support, what would we want to support, and the broader question about the threat that those troops may be under and whether that is escalatory,” the Telegraph quoted a Whitehall source as saying on Wednesday evening.
Spokespeople for 10 Downing Street and the Elysee Palace did not deny that Starmer and Macron discussed the peacekeeper possibility last week at the Chequers estate in the UK, but gave no details about the conversation.
Starmer was in Kiev on Thursday, promising a “100-year partnership” pact with Ukraine.
One of the rumored plans US President-elect Donald Trump might propose after taking office next Monday involves Western troops deployed as peacekeepers along the demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, supposedly running along the current line of conflict. No US forces would be involved, only “European” soldiers not acting under NATO command, according to media reports that have been impossible to verify.
Macron reportedly brought up the idea of “European” peacekeepers with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last month, but Warsaw said it was “not planning any such actions.”
Earlier this week, Zelensky wrote on social media that he had discussed with “key allies” the “practical steps” for the implementation of the peacekeeper idea.
“We are getting slightly ahead of ourselves. We are not there yet,” one British official told the Telegraph.
Putting boots on the ground in Ukraine has been endorsed by former PM Boris Johnson, former Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, and two ex-defense ministers, Grant Shapps and Gavin Williamson.
The UK has given 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Kiev since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February 2022, and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil.
The British government’s continued support for Kiev means London “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said recently, accusing the UK of “doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
