Sir Keir Starmer and other Ukrainian allies are trying to negotiate a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but Russia has repeatedly warned against such action as it could risk a wider conflict. The “coalition of the willing” – a group of European and non-European nations committed to ending the three-year-long war – are due to meet on Thursday to discuss where personnel could be sent after the war ends. They would be deployed as a security guarantee to Ukraine, to ensure Russia does not violate any terms of a potential ceasefire or launch another invasion.
However, this has been met with fierce backlash, with top Russian officials and propagandists warning it would just bring intensified fighting. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, threatened a “war with NATO”, raising fears that WW3 could erupt.
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He wrote on X: “Macron and Starmer are playing dumb. Time and again they are told that peacekeepers must be from non-NATO states.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko added that any force sent to Ukraine must be “unarmed”.
He said: “We absolutely do not care under what label NATO contingents may be deployed on the territory of Ukraine: be it the European Union, NATO or in a national capacity.
“In any case, if they appear there, it means that they are deployed in a conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as a party to the conflict.”
This comes after it was suggested that over 10,000 troops could be deployed to Ukraine by the coalition of the willing as Sir Keir now has “considerably more” support for the plan than when it was first tabled.
A military source told The Times that a peacekeeping force could be “comfortably north of 10,000”.
A senior goverment source added: “Things are quite advanced. It will be a significant force with a significant number of countries providing troops and a much larger group contributing in other ways.”
Another told the outlet that British troops could be in Ukraine for “years”, or “as long as it takes” to secure long lasting peace that Russia respects.