UK PM Starmer Says Only 'Detention' Of The United States Can Secure Peace In Ukraine

PM Starmer with President Zelensky. (Wikimedia Commons/Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street)

JAKARTA - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday urged the United States to provide "detention" security for European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, saying that was all that would give Kyiv lasting peace, not a temporary ceasefire.

On his way to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump, PM Starmer again said Britain would "play our part" in the role of peacekeepers in Ukraine, but could only do so with some kind of support from the United States.

For PM Starmer, an important part of the plan for the Ukraine peace deal is to secure what he calls Trump's "backstop", something that has not been clearly defined.

"I truly believe we need lasting peace, not a ceasefire, and for that to happen, we need security guarantees," said PM Starmer.

"What exactly is meant by that, what it looks like, is clearly the subject of intense discussion," he continued.

According to PM Starmer, the barrier is important to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine again.

"My concern is that if there is a ceasefire without restraint, it will only give him (Putin) the opportunity to wait and come again because his ambitions regarding Ukraine are clear enough, in my opinion, to be seen by everyone," he explained.

Prior to the arrival of PM Starmer, President Trump said: "I will not give excessive security guarantees. We will ask Europe to do so, because we are talking about Europe as a neighbor (Ukraine)."

Since President Trump abandoned Washington's more friendly approach to Ukraine to the war of Russia, Britain and other European countries have gone to great lengths to show the front of unity and steppe up diplomatic efforts to support Kyiv.

However, there are still disagreements over the deployment of troops in Ukraine in the future, with several European countries including France ready to do so. Others, such as Poland, have ruled it out.

Yesterday, Russia again said it could not consider "any option" to send European peacekeepers to Ukraine.