Military planning for Ukraine peace moves to ‘operational phase’, says Starmer
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that in a virtual meeting with 29 other world leaders, the military plan is aimed at protecting a potential Ukrainian ceasefire and is heading towards a “operational phase.”
Sir Kyle said military leaders would gather in the UK on Thursday, “a strong and powerful plan was developed to swing behind the peace agreement and to keep Ukraine safe in the future.”
After talks with the United States, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with the idea but sets many premises for peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who joined Saturday’s meeting, said “positive pressure is needed, not just conversations”.
“The world must understand that Russia is the only obstacle to preventing peace,” he said.
Zelensky added: “The road to peace must begin unconditionally. If Russia does not want this, then it must be stressed until they do so. Moscow understands a language.”
He urged European countries to produce their weapons as soon as possible and spoke with the United States and its President Donald Trump to reach a deal faster with “complete sanctions, strong pressure and forcing Russia to achieve peace.”
Sir Kyle said in his speech after the videotape: “The world needs action…it is not a blank speech and condition.”
He said in a statement that the “Kremlin jitters and delays” against the ceasefire proposal and its ongoing attack on Ukraine were “completely opposed to President Putin’s desire for peace.”
Sir Kyle said leaders agreed on Saturday that if Putin rejected an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” they would need to “pressurize pressure… to convince him to come to the negotiating table”.
“To achieve this, we will accelerate military support, tighten sanctions on Russian revenues and continue to explore all legitimate routes to ensure that Russia pays the price for the damage caused by Ukraine,” the statement said.
Putin said on Thursday that he supported the idea of a ceasefire, but added that there were “nuances” and asked a list of questions about the details, including whether the ceasefire allowed Ukraine to return to re-attack and who came to police.
Participants on Saturday’s call included NATO, the EU, nearly two dozen European countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Sir Kyle said military leaders will meet this week to advance how the military can support Ukraine’s “practical plan”.
“We will establish Ukraine’s defense and armed forces and are ready to deploy in peace agreements as a willing coalition to help ensure Ukraine is in the land, at sea and in the sky,” his statement said.
Sir Kyle introduced the idea of a “willing alliance” defending the ceasefire earlier this month, saying on Saturday that the alliance has developed, including support from Japan and others.
The Prime Minister had previously said he was “ready and willing” to provide British troops in Ukraine to help keep it safe as part of the peace agreement. He called on other European countries to commit to specific security assurances and said the United States needs a “backstage”.
In a press conference after the summit, Zelensky said some form of “boot” was needed after the ceasefire, although he admitted that some were “skeptical”.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg after the summit that it was “too early” to talk about using the troops as part of any security guarantee.
Stub said Finland is willing to make part of its efforts to defend the peace agreement, but said: “It’s too early to talk about the local boots because we don’t have a ceasefire and we don’t have a peace process. Once we have a clear plan, we start to make a commitment.”
“They can help in a way from zero to 50 different ways, boots on the ground are just one way,” he said.
Thousands of people have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
