UK army chiefs to head to Ukraine to discuss military planning, Sir Keir Starmer says

Following the talks, Sir Keir said top brass from the UK, France and Germany would head to Ukraine for talks with Kyiv’s military chiefs to discuss plans for a force to deter Vladimir Putin from attacking again if there is a deal to bring the war to an end.

He said “what we’re requiring is options that are credible, that could be operationalised”, before adding: “The military and operational coalition, if you like, is designed to build on the Ukrainian capability, not sort of an alternative to it.”

Sir Keir said Mr Putin must be given a deadline to make progress on the ceasefire, and added that the leaders were clear that sanctions must not be lifted.

The Prime Minister said the allies had agreed “we should be setting a framework and a deadline of delivering real progress, and that we should hold them to that deadline”.

He said: “We’ve agreed that we must go further now to support the peace process, support Ukraine and increase the pressure on Russia to get serious.

Although he declined to name a hard deadline, Sir Keir added that he wanted to see progress “in days and weeks, not months and months”.

The meeting in Paris comes after Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause hostilities in the Black Sea following talks with the US in Saudi Arabia.

In statements published by the White House, the Trump administration also appeared to signal its intention to ease sanctions on Russian agricultural goods and improve Moscow’s access to maritime insurance, ports and payment systems as part of the deal.

But Ukraine and its European allies have firmly pushed back against any suggestion of lifting sanctions, agreeing instead to increase measures to bring Russia to the negotiating table.

Sir Keir said there had been “complete clarity that now is not the time for lifting of sanctions”, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said sanctions were “one of the few real tools the world has to pressure Russia into serious talks”.

The meeting also saw Sir Keir update the group of 30 nations, plus Nato and the EU, with the outcomes of a series of military planning talks for a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

Officials and defence chiefs have been holding talks at London’s Northwood military headquarters throughout the week, drawing up a strategy to support Kyiv and deter future aggression from Moscow.

After the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the prospect of a “reassurance force” of European troops acting as a “second security guarantee” in the event of a deal.