Peace in Ukraine needs a US ‘backstop’ says Starmer – and UK troops?
(Watch the video clip of this article here.)
The UK prime minister failed to define what he meant by a ‘backstop’ in a speech he made after meeting fellow European leaders yesterday (Monday, February 17, 2025), but others have suggested this means air support, logistics and intelligence operations.
The gathering was prompted by US President Donald Trump’s decision to hold talks with Russia about the future of Ukraine – without including representatives of Ukraine in the discussions.
Here’s Starmer’s speech:
Starmer said he would consider deploying UK troops as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, if a lasting peace agreement could be found – but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that discussing sending troops to Ukraine at the moment would be “completely premature”.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Whatever comes of either set of negotiations, nothing can happen without Ukraine’s support, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv will not recognise any agreement made without its involvement.
And of course Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, has said UK forces are simply not capable of carrying out operations in Ukraine because they don’t have the personnel or the equipment and considerable investment would be required to provide them.
This may create a dilemma for a UK government that insists there is no money available to support its population, millions of whom are in poverty after 14 years of a greedy Tory government that sucked wealth away from the masses in order to give it to those who were already rich.
If it shakes the Magic Money Tree to find the cash (in other words, asks the Bank of England to create it) then critics will demand to know why such money can’t be used to help people, rather than hurt them.
The answer to that question lies, I think, in this X post:
“Keir Starmer talks about understanding the responsibility of deploying troops… He’s got the same weird fetish as Tony Blair about wanting to look strong and stateman[like] by using the military.”
We should resist this.
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Peace in Ukraine needs a US ‘backstop’ says Starmer – and UK troops?
Peace in Ukraine needs a US ‘backstop’ says Starmer – and UK troops?
(Watch the video clip of this article here.)
The UK prime minister failed to define what he meant by a ‘backstop’ in a speech he made after meeting fellow European leaders yesterday (Monday, February 17, 2025), but others have suggested this means air support, logistics and intelligence operations.
The gathering was prompted by US President Donald Trump’s decision to hold talks with Russia about the future of Ukraine – without including representatives of Ukraine in the discussions.
Here’s Starmer’s speech:
Starmer said he would consider deploying UK troops as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, if a lasting peace agreement could be found – but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that discussing sending troops to Ukraine at the moment would be “completely premature”.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Whatever comes of either set of negotiations, nothing can happen without Ukraine’s support, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv will not recognise any agreement made without its involvement.
And of course Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, has said UK forces are simply not capable of carrying out operations in Ukraine because they don’t have the personnel or the equipment and considerable investment would be required to provide them.
This may create a dilemma for a UK government that insists there is no money available to support its population, millions of whom are in poverty after 14 years of a greedy Tory government that sucked wealth away from the masses in order to give it to those who were already rich.
If it shakes the Magic Money Tree to find the cash (in other words, asks the Bank of England to create it) then critics will demand to know why such money can’t be used to help people, rather than hurt them.
The answer to that question lies, I think, in this X post:
“Keir Starmer talks about understanding the responsibility of deploying troops… He’s got the same weird fetish as Tony Blair about wanting to look strong and stateman[like] by using the military.”
We should resist this.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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