A split has emerged among European nations over whether to match Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to send UK troops to Ukraine, as allies thrash out a response to US president Donald Trump’s push for a deal with Vladimir Putin.
In a post on social media site X after the Paris gathering, the prime minister said: “If there is a peace deal, and everybody wants a peace deal, then it’s got to be a lasting peace deal, not just a pause for Putin to come again.
But the exclusion of Ukraine from talks has put the UK on a collision course with the Republican administration, with Sir Keir repeatedly warning that there can be “no talks about Ukraine without Ukraine”.
The division became clear as European leaders attended an emergency summit on Ukraine in Paris, where allies scrambled for a strategy in response to Donald Trump’s push for a deal with Putin.
Sir Keir, who is due to visit the US later this month, said any settlement would need to be a “lasting peace deal, not just a pause for Putin to come again”.
