Some “senior military sources” in the British military reportedly rejected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s proposal to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine as part of a “coalition of the willing,” calling the plan “political theater,”
“Starmer got ahead of himself with talk of boots on the ground before he knew what he was talking about,” one senior Army source told The Telegraph Sunday evening.. “Which is why we hear less about it now and more about jets and vessels which are easier to do and don’t need basing in Ukraine.”
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A Starmer-Macron peacekeeping plan proposes an initial 30-day truce in the air and at sea, along with a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. A peacekeeping force would be deployed in a second phase.
Moscow has repeatedly opposed the presence of NATO or EU peacekeepers in Ukraine, warning that it would intensify tensions with the West.
The Telegraph report comes as US officials are holding separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss the partial 30-day truce.
Discussions on forming an international peacekeeping force have been complicated by uncertainty over the mission’s objectives and that “no one knows what the mission is,” a senior military source told The Telegraph.
“There are about 700,000 Russians in and around Ukraine and over a million Ukrainians under arms,” another source said.
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“What is a 10,000-international force based in the west of the country over 400 kilometers [249 miles] from the front line meant to do?”
“It cannot even protect itself. What is the mission? What is its legitimacy? What are the rules of engagement? How is it commanded, supplied, and housed? How long is it there for and why? No one knows.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the idea that a UN peacekeeping mission could serve as a viable deterrent against future Russian aggression.
“With all due respect, the UN will not protect us from occupation or [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s desire to come again,” Zelensky said during a press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel in Kyiv on Friday, March 21.
“We do not see the UN as an alternative to a contingent or security guarantees,” he said.
On the same day, Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, criticized the plans as political posturing. Witkoff, who in the same interview said that Russian leader and accused war criminal Vladimir Putin was “not a bad person” dismissed European willingness to deploy a peacekeeping force to Ukraine as “simplistic,” saying European officials were thinking “we have all got to be like Winston Churchill” – the British leader who stood up to Adolf Hitler and Nazi aggression in World War II – at that time, with American support.
Reports suggest the White House is working to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine by April 20, when both Western and Orthodox churches celebrate Easter.
On March 21, Trump stated that “a full ceasefire will be achieved pretty soon.” While media reports previously suggested that April 20 was the target date for a ceasefire, no official announcement has confirmed this.
Meanwhile, Chief of the British Defense Staff Adm. Tony Radakin is set to meet with French officials in London on March 24 to discuss details of a potential peacekeeping mission.
“The process underway, led by Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron, is preparing Europe and Ukraine for whatever comes next, and while providing a running commentary on the potential options would be unhelpful to the planning and detrimental to potential peace, no one should be in any doubt that this work is critical and substantial,” Radakin said.
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