Ex-British MoD chiefs urged to send British peacekeepers to Ukraine

Former British Defence Ministers Grant Shapps and Gavin Williamson have spoken in favor of sending British peacekeepers to Ukraine. This was reported by The Telegraph on January 12.

As Shapps noted, sending peacekeepers is only a small part of what Ukraine needs. In addition, he added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer had traveled anywhere but Kiev in the six months since his election.

Williamson, in turn, considered it important that in the future Ukraine's security should be supported either by NATO or by countries such as the United Kingdom, "which can be seen as reliable partners".

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

Earlier, on January 10, it became known that Starmer would soon visit Ukraine to discuss the deployment of peacekeeping forces there after the end of the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired on May 20, 2024, added that the initiative to send peacekeepers to Ukraine was put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the time, Bloomberg pointed out that this would be the first visit to Ukraine for Starmer since he took office as British prime minister in July 2024.

Earlier the same day, Andrey Klimov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on International Affairs, in a conversation with Izvestia, emphasized that Zelensky is trying to negotiate with European leaders because he is "trying to simply survive", fearing for his future amid 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 a security guarantee for Kiev such as its accession to NATO.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, 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.