UK PM Keir Starmer willing to send troops to Ukraine to 'safeguard peace'

Meanwhile, officials from US and Russia are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to formally initiate the peace talks to bring the three-year long war to end

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is willing to send peacekeeping troops to the war-torn Ukraine amid fear of being sidelined in negotiations talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a report by Reuters. Meanwhile, officials from the US and Russia are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to formally initiate the peace talks to bring the three-year-long war to an end. 

 

As Starmer is trying to show the US that European countries should have a stake in the talks on ending the conflict, he said that the decision is not taken to consider putting British servicemen and women “in harm’s way” lightly, but securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was essential to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression.

 

Starmer’s remarks were the first in which he clearly indicated that he was considering deploying British peacekeepers to Ukraine. Previously, he had stated that Britain was willing to play a role in any negotiated peace agreement.

 

However, on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Ukraine and Europe would be involved in any “genuine negotiations” to end Moscow’s war. He emphasised that upcoming US talks with Russia would serve as an opportunity to assess Putin’s commitment to peace.

 

The end of Russia’s war with Ukraine “when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again,” Starmer wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

 

European Leaders meet in Paris on Russia-Ukraine

 

Furthermore the British Prime Minister is expected to join the European leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Paris on Monday. This came after the French President Emmanuel Macron organised the talks on Russia-Ukrain war. 

 

However, these efforts of European leaders on the Ukraine war are seen as a reaction to Donald Trump when he last week shocked the NATO allies by holding a direct call with Vladimir Putin without consulting them. Additionally, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, later suggested that Ukraine and other European leaders would be excluded from peace negotiations.

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited United Arab Emirates

 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United Arab Emirates late Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

 

The UAE has been considered a possible location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine because it has helped with prisoner exchanges in the past. In January 2023, the UAE mediated an exchange of more than 100 prisoners from both sides.

 

Zelenskyy’s visit follows a meeting earlier on Sunday between Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov, and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

 

[With inputs from Reuters]