The British Prime Minister has held a virtual meeting with European leaders on Tuesday and have discussed sending thousands of troops to Ukraine.
The meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” was chaired by Sir Keir Starmer and the French President Emmanuel Macron where they discuss sending “several thousand boots on the ground” as part of a peace keeping force to help Ukraine.
However, Russia has to agree to this and so far over the past months they have point blank rejected the idea as it effectively means that NATO is on Russia’s doorstep.
A framework has been discussed on security guarantees, but as yet no firm decisions have been made, well not publicly.
Speaking on Russian state TV, Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “With respect for Russia’s security interests, without full respect for the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people who live in Ukraine, there can be no talk of any long-term agreements.
The US President has said that American troops will not be on the ground, Donald Trump has suggested providing air support.
EU leaders are pushing for a peace summit where Putin and his entourage can attend, the Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis could provide the Russian leader with “immunity” so he can attend the meeting in person.
Cassis said, “We could hold such a meeting and we know what needs to be done to ensure it goes smoothly…we can do this despite the arrest warrant against Putin because of our special role and Geneva’s role as the European headquarters of the United Nations.
His Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, said, “Italy is in favour of them taking place in Geneva because it is a country that has always worked to build peace.”
Macron said, “It will be [hosted by] a neutral country, maybe Switzerland, I’m pushing for Geneva, or another country.”
The last time there were bilateral talks, they were held in Istanbul.
Downing Street has released a statement after Starmer and Macron chaired a virtual meeting of over 30 leaders from the coalition of the willing meeting, he said that they discussed further sanctions on Russia to exert more pressure on Putin to end the war.
“The prime minister began by reflecting on the constructive meeting, saying it was clear there was a real sense of unity and shared goal of securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” a spokesman said.
“Turning to next steps, the prime minister outlined that coalition of the willing planning teams would meet with their US counterparts in the coming days to further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees and prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended.
“The leaders also discussed how further pressure – including through sanctions – could be placed on Putin until he showed he was ready to take serious action to end his illegal invasion.
“The prime minister said he looked forward to updating the group again soon, as further work progressed in the coming days and weeks.”
Get real time update about this post category directly on your device, subscribe now.
