There is a “huge danger” that a bad peace deal for Ukraine risks another war, former foreign secretary and Tory leader William Hague has warned.
Lord Hague made the comments as the US and Russia agreed to “lay the groundwork” for ending the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting in Saudi Arabia.
But Europe and Ukraine were barred from the four-and-a-half-hour talks in Riyadh on Tuesday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov
Lord Hague warned of “great danger”, saying: “We see it all through history, that the way in which you settle one war can, if you’re not careful, lead to a bigger war later, because it leaves both sides with an incentive to go back to fighting.”
He said “humiliated side” might want to “recover its dignity and territory”, while a “victorious side that thinks it can come back” for more.
He added: “And so there’s a huge danger of this here, that this is the prelude to a wider war in later years. And Trump and his team are not really showing the awareness of that. So that’s the biggest worry in this whole thing.”
Mr Rubio called the first high-level talks on the conflict since the early months of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion as the “first step of a long and difficult journey”.
“This needs to be a permanent end to the war and not a temporary end as we’ve seen in the past,” said US national security adviser Mike Waltz, who accompanied Mr Rubio and US president Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff to the talks.
“The practical reality is that there’s going to be some discussion of territory and there’s going to be discussion of security guarantees, those are just fundamental basics,” Mr Waltz added, noting that Mr Trump was “determined to move very quickly”.
The surprise US-Russia meeting came after Mr Trump called Putin last week in an effort to end the war — without consulting Ukraine or its European allies.
The US president and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are set to meet at the White House in Washington next week, where Ukraine will be a key issue.
Britain and Sweden, both NATO members, have said they would consider putting troops on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal after the US appeared to want to settle the conflict on Putin’s terms.
But Russia will not accept the deployment of troops from NATO countries to Ukraine as part of any peace deal, Moscow’s top diplomat said.
“The appearance of troops from NATO countries … under a foreign flag, the flag of the European Union or the national flag, is unacceptable,” said Mr Lavrov.
Sir Keir discussed his proposals to send UK peacekeeping troops to Ukraine with NATO leaders and European counterparts at an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday.
But his suggestion was rejected by some of those at the summit.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz described talk of boots on the ground as “premature”, adding: “This is highly inappropriate, to put it bluntly, and – honestly – we don’t even know what the outcome will be.”
The suggestion also prompted calls from the Liberal Democrats for a vote in the Commons, although Sir Ed Davey indicated he would support such a deployment.
The party’s leader said events over the coming days “will impact us for decades”.
He said: “We must act immediately to save Ukraine from a shoddy deal cooked up by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
“It is vital that Parliament has a chance to debate and scrutinise the Government’s plans to support Ukraine.”
Kyiv has said it will reject any deal imposed on it without its involvement.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We don’t want a peace brokered behind the scenes without our involvement.
“Without Ukraine, peace cannot be achieved.”
Turkish president Recep Tayyi Erdogan said his nation would be the “ideal host” for any talks on ending the nearly three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
His offer followed nearly three hours of talks with Mr Zelensky on Tuesday.
Speaking after Monday European crisis talks, Sir Keir said: “At stake is not just the future of Ukraine. It is an existential question for Europe as a whole, and therefore vital for Britain’s national interest.
“This is a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent. Only a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty will deter Putin from further aggression in the future.”
There is no legal requirement for the UK’s Parliament vote on military action, which is formally a royal prerogative. However, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, MPs have usually been given a say on significant deployments.
A Cabinet minister confirmed on Tuesday that MPs are likely to get a vote before any deployment of British troops to Ukraine.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said it would be “normal, if circumstances allow, for Parliament to be consulted” on military action, but added: “I do think we are some way away from this at the moment.”
She also urged Mr Trump to learn lessons from the withdrawal from Afghanistan and not exclude Ukraine from peace talks.
She said: “It is vital that we don’t make the same mistakes as we did in Afghanistan, where the US spoke directly to the Taliban, not involving the Afghan government.
“I’m sure President Trump wouldn’t want to repeat those mistakes again.”