The British prime minister made his stance on the war clear in a recent opinion piece.

British PM Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is “ready and willing” to put British troops on the ground to Ukraine. „I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way. But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country,” – he wrote.

In an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph of London, UK PM Starmer wrote that the matters on the table are “existential for Europe as a whole” and that peace in Ukraine is only workable if Russia is sufficiently deterred from ever launching another invasion. Ukrainian President Zelensky also makes this a key demand of peace talks.

European nations must spend more on their defence expenditures in order to take on “a greater role in NATO”, Starmer said, noting: “We have talked about it for too long – and President Trump is right to demand that we get on with it”. There are strident words, perhaps, but somewhat ironic, given that PM Starmer appears to be set on a course for more military cuts for the UK armed forces in a coming spending review.

Exactly how many soldiers would be needed to form a credible deterrent against any future Russian aggression in Eastern Europe is unclear. Some estimates have spoken of 100,000, and that might be difficult for Europe’s hollowed-out military budgets despite it being a fraction of the million-man army talked of by President Zelensky.

However, soldiers aren’t everything, and a great deal of other systems would presumably have to be forward-deployed to enforce a truce in Ukraine, not least among them air systems, including combat jets and air defence missiles. President Zelensky has previously said if Ukraine won’t be admitted into the protective umbrella of NATO, then getting its own nuclear deterrent would be an acceptable alternative.

As is known, representatives of the United States and Russia will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine, but European leaders have not been invited to send delegations.