In an article for the Telegraph, Starmer acknowledged the gravity of such a decision, emphasizing that he did not take lightly the idea of placing British servicemen and women in harm’s way: “But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country.”

His remarks come ahead of a key meeting in Paris, where European leaders will discuss security commitments for Ukraine amid growing concerns over reduced U.S. involvement in European defense.

The Paris summit, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, was prompted by the exclusion of European nations from early peace talks between the U.S. and Russia, as well as indications that a future Donald Trump administration would scale back security guarantees for Europe.

“I am heading to Paris with a very clear message for our European friends. We have got to show we are truly serious about our own defense and bearing our own burden. We have talked about it for too long – and President (Donald) Trump is right to demand that we get on with it,” Starmer wrote.

Starmer’s statement is expected to increase pressure on allies, particularly Germany, to support a European-led initiative aimed at ensuring Ukraine’s long-term security. He also suggested that the U.K. could serve as a crucial link between Europe and the United States in brokering sustainable peace.

While Russia and the U.S. are set to begin peace discussions in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine has been seemingly left out of the negotiations—a move Starmer strongly criticized. Drawing parallels to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he warned that sidelining Kyiv could lead to a fragile ceasefire that fails to deter future Russian aggression.

The prime minister reiterated Britain’s long-term support for Ukraine, including its pledge of three billion ($3.6 billion) pounds annually for military aid until at least 2030, and said that the U.K. is willing to contribute troops to ensure security guarantees.

“We must be clear that peace cannot come at any cost. Ukraine must be at the table in these negotiations because anything less would accept Putin’s position that Ukraine is not a real nation,” Starmer wrote.

The specifics of a European peacekeeping force remain uncertain, but one proposal under discussion involves deploying European troops behind Ukrainian forces rather than directly along the front lines of a potential ceasefire. Some estimates suggest that as many as 100,000 soldiers may be required to make such a mission effective, raising questions about whether European nations would commit sufficient forces.

In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Zelensky said his country has intelligence that Putin is planning to conduct a military training operation with 150,000 people, “mostly on the territory of Belarus.”

He warned that it could be a similar precursor to the military forces on Ukraine’s border that Putin claimed were for training purposes before launching the full-scale invasion.

“We know for sure that he is preparing that from the territory of Belarus this year. It can happen in summer, maybe in the beginning, maybe in the end of summer. I do not know when he prepares it. But it will happen,” Zelensky added.

Zelensky warned that NATO countries could be next.

“And at that moment,” Zelensky continued, “knowing that he did not succeed in occupying us, we do not know where he will go. There are risks that this can be Poland and Lithuania because we believe — we believe that Putin will wage war against NATO.”

Zelensky said he thinks Putin is waiting for the NATO alliance to weaken.

“That is why I told you that, ‘What is he waiting for?’ For a weakening of NATO by, for instance, policy of the United States of America, for example, that the United States of America will think to take its military from Europe. Yes, Putin thinks of that. But I will believe that the United States will not take its forces, its contingents from Europe because that will severely weaken NATO and the European continent. Putin definitely counts on that. And the fact that we receive information that he will think of the invasion against former Soviet republics. And forgive me, but today these are NATO countries.”

Zelensky spoke to the Munich Security Conference on Saturday and noted, “I really believe that the time has come” to create “the armed forces of Europe.”

His remarks came as U.S. officials seek to negotiate an end to the nearly three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed earlier this week that the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was unrealistic at this time. While Hegseth later softened his stance, President Trump’s moves to end the war have rattled critics and allies.

A US peace plan could be forthcoming within weeks or even days, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy on Russia and Ukraine, said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

”The Trump administration has told European officials that it wants to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine by Easter,” Bloomberg said, citing sources briefed on the talks. According to the outlet, some European officials felt the pace of the negotiations was ambitious and possibly unrealistic. Talks are reportedly set to kick off with a meeting of Russian and US representatives in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

Europe will not be given a place in the negotiations, Kellogg told top European diplomats on Saturday. Despite this, UK and EU officials fear the US expects them to shoulder the burden of Ukraine’s post-war security, Financial Times wrote on Thursday.

The envoy justified the exclusion of Europe, citing the legacy of the Minsk-2 agreement between Ukraine and now Russian Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in 2015. Germany and France stood as guarantors to the failed accord, which then German chancellor Angela Merkel later admitted was just meant to buy Kiev time to strengthen itself.

“When you looked at Minsk-2, there was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some type of peace process, and it failed miserably. So we are not gonna go down that path,” Kellogg stated.

Moscow has similarly underscored that it will not accept a temporary freeze of hostilities, like the Minsk accords, and insists on a permanent solution that addresses the fundamental causes of the conflict.

Just days prior, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump held a phone conversation in the first such interaction since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The two leaders could meet in Saudi Arabia by the end of this month, Newsweek wrote on Sunday, citing reports.

Putin has previously stressed that Moscow has never shied away from peace talks, but emphasized that they have to be based on terms previously agreed in Istanbul in 2022, modified for the territorial “realities on the ground.”

Russia has demanded that Ukraine embrace neutrality, demilitarize, denazify and remain free of nuclear weapons, among other points.

Zelensky previously revealed the total casualty count in early Febriary, claiming that Ukraine had lost over 45,000 soldiers.

Nearly 380,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured since the start of the all-out war, Zelensky told NBC.

“Ten of thousands” of Ukrainian troops are currently missing in action or being held in Russian captivity, according to the president.

According to Ukraine’s General Staff estimates, Russia has lost a total of 859,920 troops since the start of the war. The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.

Moscow does not disclose its casualty figures, though a Defense Ministry official in recent months let slip that the department received 48,000 requests to identify missing soldiers.

Ukraine will “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia” regarding the outcome of peace negotiation without Ukraine’s participation, Zelensky stated during the interview.

Zelensky’s comments come amid reports that a U.S. delegation is set to meet with its Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia for the start of negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

“We have this place at the table at the very beginning, and we are the first who are at this table because the war is in Ukraine,” Zelensky added, noting that Ukrainians would never accept a peace deal that was negotiated on their behalf.

“We are thankful for all the support, unity in the U.S. around Ukraine support – even bipartisan support – we are thankful for all of this, but there is no leader in the world that can make a deal with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin without us, about us.”

Concerns have been raised about Ukraine’s role in the negotiations, with European officials emphasizing that Kyiv must not be sidelined. Kyiv has not received an invitation to attend the meeting in Riyadh, with Zelensky telling reporters that he found out about the meetings through media reports.