The Telegraph reported that on March 23, British authorities rejected Prime Minister Keir Starmer's proposal to deploy Western troops to Ukraine as "peacekeeping forces" in the post-conflict period. Many senior British military officials have commented that Mr. Starmer has " gone too far".
According to The Telegraph, the goals of the plan to send troops to Ukraine proposed by Prime Minister Starmer are still unclear as no strategy has been proposed.
An unnamed official said the peacekeeping force was just a political play, noting that Mr. Starmer was discussing the deployment of the army while not really understanding the problem.
Mr. Starmer's initiative was announced earlier this month, calling for the building of a "coalition of ready-made countries" to support Kiev. Thirty of the 44 European countries have backed the plan to send about 10,000 troops to Ukraine despite Russia's objections to any Western presence in the conflict area.
Last week, London also held many talks with military officials from European countries. However, a military source from the Telegraph said the plan was still too early as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine showed no signs of cooling down.
The discussions have shifted the focus from deploying ground troops to providing support in the air and at sea, the source said. In particular, fighter jets of the Royal Air Force (RAF) may be deployed to patrol Ukrainian airspace, Typhoon aircraft will be used to support ground forces. However, the scale and role of ground forces are still unclear.
Another defense source continued to stress that Mr. Starmer's plan was for political purposes only, not based on actual military calculations, and noted that Russia and the US did not support this alliance.
The source pointed out a series of loopholes, from legitimateness, combat rules, to logistics and command, which have not been agreed upon, emphasizing that an international force of 10,000 soldiers stationed in western Ukraine, more than 400km from the front line, will find it difficult to control the area, even unable to defend themselves.
The next talks are scheduled to take place in London on 24 March (local time) between British and French defense officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron is said to be considering a proposal for the UN Security Council to approve the presence of European troops in Ukraine, while Russia - which has always opposed the idea - could refuse because it is also one of the 15 members of the council.
