‘The Telegraph’: Starmer’s Ukraine peacekeeping plan dismissed as ‘political theatre’

Doubts raised over ‘coalition of the willing’ ambitions as UK and French military chiefs meet in Whitehall, notes ‘The Telegraph’.

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for a “coalition of the willing” to keep the peace in Ukraine have been dismissed as “political theatre”.

The Prime Minister proposed the peacekeeping initiative earlier this month, insisting several countries were prepared to enforce any peace deal.

But few concrete details of what troops and equipment would be sent have emerged.

On Sunday, senior military sources dismissed the plans, telling The Telegraph that Sir Keir had “got ahead of himself”.

Earlier Donald Trump’s special envoy dismissed the plans as “a posture and a pose”.

Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a “simplistic” notion of the Prime Minister and other European leaders thinking “we have all got to be like Winston Churchill”.

It comes amid reports the White House has pledged to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine by April 20, when Easter Sunday falls in both Western and Orthodox churches.

One senior Army source said it was not “remotely possible” for a plan of support for Ukraine to be drawn up in that time.

He said: “There is no defined military end-state or military-strategic planning assumptions. It’s all political theatre.

“Starmer got ahead of himself with talk of boots on the ground before he knew what he was talking about, which is why we hear less about it now and more about jets and vessels which are easier to do and don’t need basing in Ukraine.”

The Telegraph revealed last week that RAF fighter jets would police the skies above Ukraine under proposals that were discussed by the coalition when 30 nations met at Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in Northwood, west London.

It was suggested that British Typhoons could provide air cover to any troops on the ground, although the number of troops that may be sent in, if any, has not been clarified.

One defence source described the talks as being in their “early stages”, adding that they were as much about the 30 nations involved “getting to know each other”.

“It’s politics,” one military source said. “There’s no military sense in it.”

He added that neither the Russians, nor the Americans, supported the coalition, which is being led by the UK and cautioned that the coalition’s talks were complicated by the fact that “no one knows what the mission is”.

“What is a 10,000-international force based in the west of the country over 400km from the front line meant to do?

“It cannot even protect itself. What is the mission? What is its legitimacy? What are the rules of engagement? How is it commanded, supplied and housed? How long is it there for and why? No one knows.”

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