Starmer says MPs will get Commons vote before UK peacekeepers go to Ukraine

Independent.co reports that Sir Keir Starmer said MPs will get a vote in the House of Commons before the UK deploys peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine. He would not be drawn on the number the UK could send. Britain and France signed an agreement committing to boots on the ground as soon as any peace deal comes into place, a document signed alongside French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Paris.

Sir Richard Shirreff, a former Nato deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, said any peacekeeping force would require "serious numbers" and would need to "overmatch" Russia. The summit was reported to have US backing, with Jared Kushner saying the president "strongly, strongly, strongly" supports the security guarantees, and German chancellor Friedrich Mertz was said to have suggested his country could soon sign up.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called it "astonishing" that Sir Keir had not made a statement in Parliament; he replied, "There will be a statement to the House at the earliest opportunity." Sir Keir said that if there were a decision to deploy under the agreement he "would put that matter to this House for a debate beforehand and for a vote on that deployment", and he insisted any deployment would come only after a ceasefire to support Ukraine's capabilities, conduct deterrent operations and construct and protect military hubs.

Key Topics

Politics, Keir Starmer, Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Richard Shirreff