‘Europe Must Have a Secure Future’ – British PM Warns of Need for ‘US Backstop’ at Emergency Euro-Meeting

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday warned that a “US security guarantee” would be the “only way” to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again in the event of peace, AFP reported.

“I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement, but there must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again,” Starmer said after a European meeting in Paris.

Monday’s last-minute summit in Paris, with multiple European leaders in attendance, was called after the US announced over the weekend that Europe would be left out of key peace talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which would be limited to Russian and American delegations.

Starmer confirmed that he would head to Washington next week to meet US President Donald Trump and “discuss what we see as the key elements of a lasting peace.”

In contrast to Germany’s reticence to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, Starmer was one of the first to float that option. He did so ahead of these impromptu talks hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, who in the past had given carte blanche to such an idea.

“Britain will take a leading responsibility, as we always have, because Ukraine must have a secure future,” added Starmer, who said there would be further European talks after he meets with Trump.

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“Europe must have a secure future. Britain must have a secure future, and democratic values must prevail,” Starmer said.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who seems unlikely to remain in power after his country’s federal elections on Feb. 23, was much more tepid on the issue.

“It is completely premature and the completely wrong time to be having this discussion now. I am even a little irritated by these debates,” Scholz told reporters when asked if he would consider sending German military units as peacekeepers. 

Over the past year at least, the leadership of the Baltic states, especially, have publicly fretted about what would happen if there were no Western forces to enforce a ceasefire in Ukraine; at Monday’s meeting in Paris, Denmark joined their voices.

Russia is “threatening all Europe now,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in Paris.

The war in Ukraine has been about Russia’s “imperial dreams, about building a stronger and a bigger Russia, and I don’t think they’re going to stop in Ukraine,” Frederiksen told reporters. She said she was concerned about Washington’s attempts to impose an expedited ceasefire, without the input of either the EU or Ukraine, that could give Russia the ability “to mobilize again, attack Ukraine or another country in Europe.”