British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become the first European leader to say he is ready to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, making the commitment ahead of an emergency leaders’ meeting in Paris to discuss Europe’s role in a ceasefire.
Starmer’s comments underlined a growing realization among European nations that they will likely have to play a larger role in ensuring Ukraine’s security as Washington works alone with Russia on a potential end to the three-year conflict.
Sweden would consider contributing to post-war peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday, adding that negotiations would need to progress before any such decision was taken.
US President Donald Trump stunned Ukraine and European allies last week when he announced he had held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, without consulting them, to discuss bringing an end to war.
That effort was due to advance with talks this week in Saudi Arabia between US and Russian officials.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said on Saturday Europe would not have a seat at the table for any peace talks. Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.
At Monday’s summit in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron was to host leaders from Germany, Italy, Britain, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, which will represent Baltic and Scandinavian countries, along with the European Union leadership and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
A French presidential official said the discussion would look at “the security guarantees that can be given by the Europeans and the Americans, together or separately,” with peacekeepers being just one element of the security guarantees.
Starmer, who is expected to travel to Washington to meet Trump next week, said on Sunday that Europe was facing a “once in a generation moment” for the collective security of the continent, and it must work closely with the United States.
He said Britain was ready to play a leading role in delivering security guarantees for Ukraine, including being ready to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary.”
“The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The European meeting in Paris is taking place after dozens of similar summits have shown the 27-nation EU to be unable to come up with a cohesive plan to end the Ukraine war.
Britain is not an EU member but has been a leading supporter of Ukraine.
EUROPE NEEDS ‘TO DO MORE, BETTER’
A Ukrainian official told Reuters last week that only Britain and France had so far signaled any willingness to send troops at some point.
However, that could be changing.
Sweden’s Kristersson said on Monday there was “absolutely a possibility” of sending peacekeeping forces.
“There needs to be a very clear mandate for those forces and I don’t think we can see that until we have come further in those negotiations,” he said on the sidelines of a military exercise in Stockholm.
A peacekeeping force would raise the risk of a direct confrontation with Russia and would stretch European militaries, whose arms stocks have been depleted supplying Ukraine, and who are used to relying heavily on US support for major missions.
The French presidency official said Europe needs “to do more, better and in a coherent manner for our collective security.”
However, some countries were unhappy that the Paris meeting was not a full EU summit, EU officials said.
The French presidency official said the meeting would facilitate future discussions in Brussels and at NATO.
