UK Prime Minister Hints at Possible Deployment of Troops to Ukraine for Training Armed Forces
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hinted that British troops could be deployed to Ukraine to train soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, The Times reports.
During a telephone conversation, Prime Minister Starmer and President Zelenskyy discussed the Interflex operation. The two sides ‘agreed on the importance of improving its offerings to further strengthen Ukraine's capabilities on the battlefield’. The leaders recognised the importance of the ‘coming weeks and months’ before Trump's inauguration on 20 January.
According to The Times, Starmer agreed that ‘improving’ the training offer for Ukrainian soldiers was important.
In turn, Zelenskyy told Starmer that Ukraine needs to ‘weaken Russian forces for the long term’. He recalled that some 51,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the UK as part of Operation Interflex.
Moving the training to western Ukraine could reassure those who want to avoid the draft and increase the number of Ukrainians taking the basic course.
Prior to the full-scale war, British troops trained Ukrainian soldiers in western Ukraine, and some British military medics are still training in Ukraine.
Earlier, during his participation in a meeting of the European Council, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that it was important for Europe to make a significant contribution to security guarantees. As part of these guarantees, Ukraine supports the initiative of the President of France to deploy a military contingent in Ukraine and calls on other partners to join it.
‘Europe and America can bring the end of the war and a just and lasting peace closer. But for the United States to exert maximum pressure, Europe must take a clear position,’ the Head of State added.
Among the steps that will force Russia to recognise the necessity of peace, the President was the first to name geopolitical certainty for Ukraine and Europe, that is, the invitation of Ukraine to NATO.
Like Ukraine, the EU should start negotiations from a strong position, and Europe's strength is in unity, President Zelenskyy said.