Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled a tentative framework for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday. He committed to British “boots on the ground”—but emphasized the necessity of American backing. In a concession to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, he admitted that European nations must “step up their share of the burden” in terms of providing military-backed security guarantees.
“We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said. “This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act. Time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace. We have to learn from the mistakes of the past, we cannot accept a weak deal which Russia can breach with ease, instead any deal must be backed by strength.”
The British leader added that the United Kingdom would commit to a security guarantee for Ukraine and pledged to provide “boots on the ground and planes in the air.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who joined Prime Minister Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, has repeatedly insisted that any peace plan must include some form of defensive guarantee for his country against future Russian aggression.
The issue of U.S. military-backed security guarantees set off a tense exchange between Zelensky and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and President Trump during a White House press event last Friday. The heated row scuttled a planned signing of a rare earth minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine.