‘Europe should play its position,’ Keir Starmer stated on Monday after a gathering of European leaders in Paris.
The UK prime minister added: ‘I’m ready to think about committing British forces on the bottom, alongside others, if there’s a lasting peace settlement. However there should be a US backstop, as a result of a US safety assure is the one approach to successfully deter Russia from attacking Ukraine once more.’
European leaders, together with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have been excluded from talks in Riyadh between the US and Russia about ending the conflict in Ukraine. Whereas the main points of a peace plan stay undecided, and Zelenskyy says he won’t settle for a deal until Ukraine is on the desk, it leaves profound questions in regards to the future safety of Europe.
‘We’re seeing a gulf between the US and Europe the likes of which we haven’t seen since earlier than the second world conflict,’ Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and safety editor, tells Hannah Moore.
‘I feel the European leaders are comparatively unified within the sense that all of them strongly consider that help for Ukraine should proceed, that they recognise in numerous ways in which Europe should step up. However there are differing views for the time being about whether or not to take part in some sort of deterrence pressure or safety pressure in Ukraine.’
What position ought to the UK play in defending Ukraine within the face of future Russian aggression? And are British troops ready?
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