UK's Starmer wants to draw military plans to back political decisions for Ukraine

Record ID: 1984760

  • Title: UK's Starmer wants to draw military plans to back political decisions for Ukraine
  • Date: 20th March 2025
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 20, 2025) (INTERNATIONAL POOL) BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER AND JOHN HEALEY, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, ARE WELCOMED AS THEY ARRIVE AT MILITARY BASE GENERAL NICK PERRY, CHIEF OF JOINT OPERATIONS, INVITING STARMER TO SPEAK WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER, KEIR STARMER, SAYING: “But it is vitally
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Ceasefire Coalition of the Willing Defence John Healey Keir Starmer Nato Putin Russia Ukraine military base
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Defence,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001046120032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Western military talks on Thursday (March 20) would focus on the details of a support plan for Ukraine, a crucial step in making sure the West could move quickly if a peace deal were struck between Kyiv and Moscow.
    The meeting of military planners from the so-called 'coalition of the willing' group of Western countries is the second such meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump shocked Europe by opening talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    Starmer, who has seen a rise in his popularity since taking a leading role in organizing Western support for Ukraine alongside France, said the talks would focus on "military planning, military operations" to support Ukraine.
    Starmer said a secure and sovereign Ukraine will need “security arrangements in place to ensure that if there's a deal it is a defended deal.”
    Earlier, his spokesperson said more than 25 countries were involved in the meeting, in person or remotely, and they would be discussing "the granular detail" of peace proposals, not only peacekeepers but how to possibly backfill those countries providing troops or military hardware, and other logistics.
    "They are going to get into the detail," the spokesperson told reporters.
    The meeting builds on several meetings of the 'coalition of the willing', which on Saturday agreed to put more pressure on Putin to accept an initial ceasefire deal without conditions as a prelude to a wider peace agreement.
    (Production: Zainab Elhaj)
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