Starmer to visit Ukraine to discuss deployment of peacekeepers

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will soon visit Ukraine to discuss the deployment of peacekeeping forces there after the end of the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose powers expire in May 2024, said this on January 10 at a meeting with Western allies at the Ramstein airbase in Germany.

"This initiative (about sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. - Ed.) was initiated by [French President] Emmanuel Macron. The British are positive about it, but I will talk about it in detail with the [British] Prime Minister at our meeting <...>. He will have a visit to Ukraine and we will talk," Zelensky said, as quoted by Bloomberg news agency.

He did not specify when exactly the meeting was scheduled. The agency's source in Starmer's office indicated that the trip will take place in the coming weeks.

Bloomberg drew attention to the fact that this will be the first visit to Ukraine for Starmer since he took office as British Prime Minister in July 2024.

Ukraine will not cope without US support. What the media say

Earlier in the day, Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia that Zelensky is trying to negotiate with European leaders because he is "trying to just survive", fearing for his future against the backdrop of US President-elect Donald Trump's imminent rise to power. In particular, the Ukrainian leader fears prison for crimes against humanity. For Ukraine at the same time Zelensky is not worried.

Before that, on December 5, 2024, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said at a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries in Brussels that the German peacekeeping contingent could be sent to Ukraine after the end of the conflict. According to her, this is necessary for further stabilization of the situation. The minister added that an "international presence to enforce the ceasefire" in Ukraine could be considered together with such a security guarantee for Kiev as its accession to NATO.

At the same time, on that day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking in the Bundestag, said that Berlin had no plans to send its troops to Ukraine under the current state of affairs. In addition, Friedrich Merz, a candidate for the post of German chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), criticized Berbock's statement. Later, on January 4, CDU speaker Roderich Kiesewetter said that the idea of sending peacekeepers was supported by the German opposition.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.