Sir Keir Starmer has sent a stern warning to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as peace plans for Ukraine ‘which he will certainly breach’ are drawn up.
The Prime Minister said Putin will suffer ‘severe consequences’ if Russia breaches any ceasefire, which is ‘certain’ unless security arrangements were in place to ensure sovereignty for Kyiv.
He 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.’
Sir Keir met defence officials from 31 allied countries from his ‘coalition of the willing’ at the Northwood military headquarters in London to draw up peace plans.
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It comes as Putin unleashed his wrath on Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown hours after Ukraine’s president agreed to a ceasefire that would pause all attacks in the sky and at sea for 30 days.
Russian Iskander-M missiles struck the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing a 47-year-old woman and wounding at least five other people.
The cities of Dnipro and Odesa were also hit by missiles, with a number of homes damaged and at least one person injured.
It came just hours after Zelensky said he is willing to accept a proposal for a ceasefire – but said the US ‘must convince’ Russia to agree to it as well.
The Prime Minister said the military planning involved offering support to Ukraine by air, sea and land if a deal were reached.
But he ruled out redeploying UK troops from countries such as Estonia to commit to Kyiv, saying: ‘There’s no pulling back from our commitments to other countries.
‘The mood in the room was that this actually will help reinforce what we’re doing in Nato in other countries, so they see it as an opportunity, rather than a question of moving troops around.
‘What’s happening here is turning that political intention into reality, the concept into plans.’
Last week, the Prime Minister warned Putin ‘the world is watching’ and told global leaders the Russian leader will have to come to the negotiating table ‘sooner or later’.
Calls this week between US President Donald Trump, Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have failed to produce the 30-day ceasefire envisaged by the White House.
Instead, the Russian leader agreed to a suspension of attacks on energy infrastructure, although Ukraine has said other civilian targets including a hospital had been struck.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Mr Putin should not be given a ‘veto’ over the presence of European peacekeepers in Ukraine if a deal is done to end the war.
‘Putin should simply accept an unconditional ceasefire. That is the plan on the table, let’s get on with it, what are we waiting for?’ he told a business conference in London.
‘What we certainly can’t do is give Putin a veto over the security architecture that will govern that peace.’
Mr Lammy spoke to his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Wednesday.
Downing Street said the military leaders would be involved in ‘granular planning’ of the details of any potential deployment.
Mr Zelensky said he believes a ‘lasting peace can be achieved this year’ after his call with Mr Trump.
In the same call, the US leader suggested that Washington takes ownership of Ukrainian power plants to ensure their security.
Mr Zelensky, who was updating European Union leaders on the discussions during their summit in Brussels on Thursday, said that overnight Russia carried out a series of drone attacks on the Kirovohrad region.
The strikes left ’10 people wounded, including four children, and caused damage to homes, a church and infrastructure’, he said.
British military intelligence officials estimate 200,000-250,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the 2022 invasion, the country’s largest losses since the Second World War.
‘Russian President Putin and the Russian military leadership highly likely prioritise their conflict objectives over the lives of Russian soldiers,’ the assessment released by the Ministry of Defence said.
‘They are almost certainly prepared to tolerate continuously high casualty rates so long as this does not negatively affect public or elite support for the war, and those losses can be replaced.’
In total there have been an estimated 900,000 casualties, including the wounded, with the bulk of military personnel drawn from impoverished regions and ethnic minorities, the defence intelligence update said.
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