Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (from left), Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmerand NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte meet at 10 Downing Street in London on October 10, 2024. Photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe /pool/EPA_ESE
Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he is "ready and willing" to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to guarantee its security. The comments came as European leaders are planning to hold an emergency summit for Monday amid concerns the continent is being shut out of plans to end Russia's war
"I do not say that lightly," Starmer wrote in The Telegraph. "I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm's way."
Starmer's comments ratchet up pressure on Britain's allies to match his effort by sending their own troops to war-torn Ukraine. The prime minister had not been so direct about putting soldiers on the ground until Sunday, only referencing the possibility of dispatching British troops.
"But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine's security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country," he continued.
Starmer, who is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington later this month, again put pressure on the United States to continue military and financial support for Ukraine.
A "U.S. security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace, because only the U.S. can deter [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from attacking again," Starmer said.
The Trump administration has said aid to Ukraine will not continue at the levels seen under the Biden administration.
Starmer's remarks and the emergency summit meeting in Paris come amid reports that the United States and Russia are planning to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible peace agreement. That meeting could take place as soon as Tuesday, CNN reported.
A Ukrainian official told CNN that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "not informed" about U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff possibly meeting with senior Russian officials.
On Saturday, Rubio also held a phone call with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Elysee Palace said French President Emmanuel Macron would host an "informal" meeting with "the heads of government of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO."
Starmer on Saturday said: "This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia.
"It's clear Europe must take on a greater role in NATO as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine's future and face down the threat we face from Russia," he said in the statement.
"The UK will work to ensure we keep the U.S. and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face."
Starmer plans to meet with Trump at the White House at the end of this month.
Then European leaders are scheduled to appear with Zelensky.
Last week, Trump announced negotiations would begin "immediately" on ending the conflict after a phone call with Putin but Europe would be excluded. Trump later spoke with Zelensky.
"A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin," Zelensky said. "Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at that table. That says a lot."
Trump, who won a second term in November, campaigned on an isolationist platform. He has also been a vocal critic of sending aid to Ukraine and is known for praising Putin.
His re-election had raised concerns of the future of U.S. support for the besieged ally, but those concerns appeared to have been confirmed over the weekend when U.S. Secretary of State Pete Hegseth signaled that there would be a drastic change in U.S. defense policy with regard to Ukraine.
In a speech critics called capitulating to Russia, Hegseth told European leaders that returning Ukraine to its pre-2014 bodres was an "unrealistic objective," and that any peace deal would not include Kyiv's ascension to NATO.
In a post on X Sunday, Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said Europe stands strongly united in supporting Ukraine and strengthening our own defence. We will soon come up with new initiatives to take this forward."
Zelensky said Ukraine had gathered intelligence showing that Russia was preparing training exercises with possibly 150,000 troops -- mainly on the soil of Belarus, a Kremlin ally. That would be pretext for attacks on NATO countries such as Lithuania and Poland, perhaps even by this summer.
He told NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press on Sunday, that "we will have low chance -- low chance to survive without support of the United States."
On Saturday, Zelensky championed the idea of creating a European military force to ensure the rest of the world does not treat it like a "pushover."
"I really believe that the time has come that the armed forces of Europe must be created," Zelensky said during the Munich Security Conference, while also touching on the possibility of American military support in Europe ending.
Vice President JD Vance also was critical of Europe during that summit.
He told the European leaders that the biggest threat to their security was "from within," rather than China or Russia. He alleged there was suppression of free speech and the leaders' refusal to work with hard-right parties in government was of greater concern.
Vance and Zelensky met Friday in Munich.
Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine, during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, said previous negotiations had failed because too many parties had been involved.
Kellogg said he was from "the school of realism, and that is not going to happen," noting that previous peace talks failed was because of the involvement of too many countries.
He said Russia will have to make concessions to end the war, including territorial matters.
In 2015, talks brokered by France and Germany, sought to end fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. A cease-fire deal between Ukraine and Russia failed.
Waltz, who is Trump's national security adviser, said long-term military security guarantees for Ukraine need to be "European-led."
On Fox News, he said European allies have been engaged in conversations on the conflict, and spoke with Macron last week.
Waltz said a permanent end to the war "can't be ended on the battlefield."
