Starmer says Putin to breach ceasefire if Ukraine not protected

As Ukrinform reports with reference to the BBC, Starmer stated this on Thursday in London after a meeting with the military leaders of the "coalition of the willing" countries, who expressed willingness to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

According to the prime minister, any agreement on the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine will be "lasting" only if there were "security arrangements in place".

Starmer noted that the security arrangements will make it clear to Russia that there will be “severe consequences if they are to breach any deal”.

Britain and its allies are moving from “political momentum” to “military planning” which he said had “to be done now” before a deal is struck, the prime minister said.

"It is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach. We know that because it happened before. I'm absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again," the prime minister said.

A closed-door meeting of the heads of military agencies from 20 countries was held at the joint headquarters in Northwood (London) to discuss proposals for deploying troops in Ukraine to ensure security as part of any peace deal with Russia.

Starmer told reporters that the talks in London had been focused on how to “keep the skies, and the seas, and the borders safe and Ukraine”.

According to the Daily Telegraph, one of the proposals discussed during the meeting was to send British Typhoon aircraft to Ukraine to provide air support for the troops.

As Ukrinform reported, next week the leaders of the "coalition of the willing" countries will gather in Paris for a meeting on Ukraine.