Keir Starmer‘s peacekeeping proposals in Ukraine have been dismissed as ‘political theatre’ by senior military insiders.
The Prime Minister laid out plans for a ‘coalition of the willing’ earlier this month, suggesting several nations were ready to enforce any deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine.
The aspiration has not yet been backed up with concrete detail, while Germany, Poland and Italy are not expected to be part of any joint force.
Yesterday military sources said the Prime Minister had ‘got ahead of himself’ and that it was not ‘remotely possible’ for a plan to be drawn up by April 20 – the White House‘s target date for a peace deal.
One senior figure told The Telegraph: ‘There is no defined military end-state or military-strategic planning assumptions. It’s all political theatre.
‘Starmer got ahead of himself with talk of boots on the ground before he knew what he was talking about, which is why we hear less about it now and more about jets and vessels which are easier to do and don’t need basing in Ukraine.’
Another said there was ‘no military sense’ in the plans due to the disparity between any joint European cohort and both the Russian and Ukrainian troop numbers.
‘There are about 700,000 Russians in and around Ukraine and over a million Ukrainians under arms,’ they said.
‘What is a 10,000-international force based in the west of the country over 400km from the front line meant to do?
‘It cannot even protect itself. What is the mission? What is its legitimacy? What are the rules of engagement? How is it commanded, supplied and housed? How long is it there for and why? No one knows.’
Former Conservative Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned of ‘coalition waffle’ without any ‘resolve’, suggesting recent talks were more ‘spin’ than substance.
Downing Street have said military planners will meet this week to discuss the ‘details and structure of any future force’.
Starmer’s ‘coalition of the willing’ refers to a group of countries prepared to enforce any agreement by sending soldiers to act as peacekeepers.
Led by the UK and France, the initiative could see troops from several nations deployed to Ukraine to act as a buffer to any future Russian aggression following a hypothetical peace deal.
Spain, Turkey, Finland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – are all likely to be involved, according to reports.
Canada and Australia are seen as the two most likely countries from outside Europe to support the plans.
But the plans appear to be opposed by the US, with President Donald Trump’s special envoy dismissing the plans as a ‘posture and a pose’.
In an interview this weekend, Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a ‘simplistic’ notion of the UK prime minister and other European leaders thinking ‘we have all got to be like Winston Churchill’.
He told journalist Tucker Carlson: ‘Russians are going to march across Europe. That is preposterous by the way. We have something called Nato that we did not have in World War Two.’
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who will host French officials today at the Ministry of Defence, dismissed criticism of the Ukraine military planning as ‘nonsense’.
He said: ‘Anyone who isn’t aware just how serious the discussions underway by chiefs of defence and chiefs of operations from 30 countries is simply proving they are too junior or too out of the loop to know what they are talking about.
‘The process underway, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Macron, is preparing Europe and Ukraine for whatever comes next, and while providing a running commentary on the potential options would be unhelpful to the planning and detrimental to potential peace, no one should be in any doubt that this work is critical and substantial.’
Ministry of Defence sources also stressed that momentum was building up behind the proposed coalition, with leaders ‘prepared to step up to secure a peace’.
They also insisted Starmer was ‘leading from the front’ on the issue and that he is commanding ‘respect’ for his approach.
Earlier today the US and Russia began talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at making progress towards a broad ceasefire in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman played down hopes of a deal being reached in the coming weeks, saying that the parties were ‘only at the beginning of this path’ to peace.
American officials have already spoken to their Ukrainian counterparts, with the initial aim being a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea to allow the free flow of shipping.
The fighting has still continued to rage inside Ukraine, however, with the country’s air force saying it shot down 57 drones out of 99 launched by Russia overnight, with another 36 failing to reach their target.
