Lammy insists UK is not sending troops to Ukraine after Russia cautions against deploying soldiers-for-hire

26 November 2024, 07:28

David Lammy has denied that Britain is in talks about sending troops to Ukraine.

The Foreign Secretary said that the UK would maintain its "longstanding commitment" to keeping troops out of "the theatre of action", despite reports in French newspaper Le Monde that Britain and France had "revived" discussions about deploying Western forces and private military contractors to Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK's longstanding position not to send troops on the ground in Ukraine had not changed.

"We are very clear that we stand ready and continue to support the Ukrainians with training particularly, but there has been a longstanding position that we are not committing UK troops to the theatre of action," he told newspapers La Repubblica, Le Monde and Die Welt at the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy.

"That is certainly the UK position, and remains the UK position at this time."

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Asked if that included contractors, he said: "We are not committing UK troops on the ground to Ukraine, but we continue to support Ukraine with training and military assistance, and we have been absolutely clear that we will continue to do that for as long as is required and is needed."

According to Le Monde, a British military source told them: “Discussions are under way between the UK and France on defence cooperation, particularly with a view to creating a hard core of allies in Europe, focusing on Ukraine and European security in the broad sense.”

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron caused a stir across Europe when he stopped short of ruling out sending "troops" to Ukraine, a proposal that has been strongly opposed by Germany.

However, Le Monde reported that the idea is far from being "abandoned" and has been "revived in recent weeks," particularly following the visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to France during the November 11 ceremonies.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated the report was "not in line with reality" and had faced opposition from most European capitals, reports The Telegraph.

He stated: “There is no unanimity of opinion among Europeans on this matter but, of course, some hotheads appear."

They also reported “sensitive discussions, most of which are classified” had been reset in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential victory in the USA as some suggest the win could signal a withdrawal support for Ukraine.

He was the first PM to attend commemorations for Armistice Day in France since Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle met to mark the end of First World War hostilities.

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Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, on Saturday called on the Western support “not to set and express red lines” in their support for Ukraine.

When probed on the potential for sending French troops to the war-torn region, he replied: “We are not ruling out any option.”

A diplomatic source said Barrot’s statement echoed Macron’s unchanged position that nothing should be ruled out.

The reports about the possible deployment of Western troops coincide with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's demand for "security guarantees" from his allies before entering into any peace talks.

The reports emerge as Ukraine has ramped up its use of long-range missiles.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden approved Kyiv's use of Atacms ground-to-ground ballistic missiles, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers, allowing Ukraine to strike Russian targets more deeply.

Just last week, a barrage of British-made Storm Shadow missiles struck a Russian command post in the Kursk region.

Earlier, the Home Secretary has said that "we will continue" to see "aggressive language" from Vladimir Putin after the Russian leader threatened to strike the UK.

Yvette Cooper told Sky News that there has been an "aggressive, blustering tone" from Mr Putin throughout the conflict, which she called "completely unacceptable".

On Thursday, Russia used a new ballistic missile in Ukraine, which Mr Putin said was in response to the UK and US allowing missiles they have supplied to Ukraine to be used to strike targets in Russia.