British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a dedicated European-led peacekeeping force.
Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine is essential and that Europe should play a significant role in efforts towards that end.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine and Europe would be involved in any “real negotiations” that take place over bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. There was anger at earlier suggestions that Ukraine and European nations would be excluded from peace negotiations.
The end of the war “when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again,” Starmer wrote in Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“I do not say that lightly,” Starmer wrote of his decision to commit troops to Ukraine.
“I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”
Starmer will join other European leaders including Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Paris today after French President Emmanuel Macron convened talks on the future of Ukraine.
Starmer is also expected to travel to the US to make the case for Britain playing a “unique role” in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
US and Russian officials, including Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to begin talks aimed at bringing the war to an end.