{"id":126885,"date":"2025-02-17T21:01:40","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T21:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-starmer-says-us-backstop-only-way-to-deter-russia-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-02-17T21:01:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T21:01:40","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-starmer-says-us-backstop-only-way-to-deter-russia-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-starmer-says-us-backstop-only-way-to-deter-russia-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Starmer says US \u2018backstop\u2019 only way to deter Russia – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Zelensky says Ukraine will not take part in US-Russia talks this week in Saudi Arabia
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<\/a>Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> has demanded the United States provide a \u201cbackstop\u201d to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again after he attended an emergency meeting of European leaders<\/a> in Paris.
As the situation rapidly develops, senior European and Nato leaders met at an emergency summit in Paris, with Sir Keir <\/a>becoming the first to confirm that he would deploy British troops into Ukraine<\/a> to enforce a peace deal with Russia<\/a> if necessary.
The prime minister repeated his aim to provide troops to Ukraine but also demanded the US provides a “backstop” to any peacekeeping force.
\u201cThere must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again”, Sir Keir said.
But Starmer also signalled the continent could no longer rely on the US for regional security and said the UK would take a leading role to stabilise Europe. \u201cIn this moment we have to recognise the new era that we are in, not cling hopelessly to the comforts of the past,” he said.
Ukraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> warned that Kyiv<\/a><\/a> will not accept any peace deal brokered by Donald Trump<\/a> and Mr Putin which excludes Ukraine, as senior US and Russian officials gear up for their first direct talks since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports: <\/em>
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\u2019s push for a deal with Putin
All European nations must boost their support for Ukraine while ramping up defence spending at home to protect themselves against Russia, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said after meeting European leaders in Paris.
“Russia is threatening all of Europe now, unfortunately,” Ms Frederiksen told reporters.
Donald Trump wants Ukraine to pay for financial and military support by affording Washington access to the country\u2019s vast but untapped rare earth minerals.
Below, we look at where these resources are in Ukraine, and why Kyiv has struggled to mine these minerals:
More than 50 per cent of Ukraine\u2019s critical rare earth mineral resources are in regions illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin and partially occupied by his forces
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will ensure the UK is a \u201cleading country\u201d in European nations stepping up support for Ukraine.
He said: \u201cWe\u2019re in a very early stage of the discussions at the moment, obviously, and the most important thing as we go into these discussions is to maintain the principle of peace through strength, and what I mean by that is making sure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
\u201cIt would be a big mistake to think that just because there may be talks that now is the time to back down on any support for Ukraine, we need to ramp it up in my view and I\u2019ve been saying that for many months now.
\u201cWhat we also need to do is to ensure that if there is an agreement, it is a lasting and enduring and just agreement that secures the sovereignty of Ukraine and that has to be at the heart of it.
\u201cAnd then, of course, the question of security guarantees.
\u201cBut whether it\u2019s on security guarantees or the wider collective defence in terms of funding or capability, I think this is the moment for European countries to step up, and I am going to ensure the UK is a leading country in that endeavour.\u201d
Sir Keir Starmer was asked by a reporter if the United States had undermined the UK, Europe and Ukraine by unilaterally starting talks with Russia.
He replied: \u201cWhat the United States wants is lasting peace, that\u2019s what Ukraine wants, that\u2019s what the United Kingdom wants and that\u2019s what European allies want.
\u201cWhat is important is that we ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position, if we go into talks, or if the fighting is to continue, and to ensure that if there\u2019s discussion about any guarantees that are being provided, that the European nations show willing, as I have done, but also are absolutely clear that it must be with a US backstop, because I don\u2019t believe it will be a guarantee if there isn\u2019t the US backstop behind those security guarantees.\u201d
Sir Keir Starmer said it is time for Europe to \u201ctake responsibility\u201d for its security.
The Prime Minister said: \u201cI spoke to President Zelensky on Friday and will do so again in coming days and we envisage a further meeting with European colleagues when I return from the US.
\u201cIn this moment we have to recognise the new era that we are in, not cling hopelessly to the comforts of the past.
\u201cIt\u2019s time for us to take responsibility for our security, for our continent and I\u2019ve been clear today Britain will take a leading responsibility, as we always have, because Ukraine must have a secure future, Europe must have a secure future, Britain must have a secure future and democratic values must prevail.\u201d
Sir Keir Starmer has called for the US to provide a \u201cbackstop\u201d to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again after meeting with European leaders for emergency talks on the war.
The Prime Minister said allies on the continent would have to \u201cstep up\u201d in terms of both spending and capability as he spoke following talks with partners in Paris on Monday.
Sir Keir has said he would be prepared to put a peacekeeping force into Ukraine if there is a deal to end the war with Russia.
But after meeting counterparts in the French capital, he added: \u201cEurope must play its role, and I\u2019m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.
\u201cBut there must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.\u201d
Ahead of today\u2019s emergency meeting in Paris, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen had said: “We need to increase military support to Ukraine, we need to produce more, and we need to do it faster.
“And then we must remove the restrictions on the Ukrainians’ use of weapons, so that they can actually defend themselves against the Russians without having one arm twisted around their back.
\u201cA ceasefire must not lead to Russian rearmament, which is replaced by new Russian attacks.”
European relations with the US have entered a \u201cnew stage\u201d, the Polish prime minister has said.
Donald Tusk, speaking in Paris following an emergency meeting of European leaders, said the return of Donald Trump had created a new environment in Europe.
Leaders are starting to realise that it\u2019s time for them to become more self-reliant and radically increase defence spending, he said, as he called for greater European defence capabilities.
Poland is Europe\u2019s most prolific spender on defence, using almost five per cent of it\u2019s GDP per year.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has published a picture of today\u2019s emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris.
He captioned the photo: \u201cThe situation is difficult for Europe. We welcome the fact that peace for Ukraine is being discussed.
\u201cBut that does not mean that there can be a dictated peace and that Ukraine must accept what is presented to it. We have coordinated this closely with Volodymyr Zelensky.\u201d
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Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inZelensky says Ukraine will not take part in US-Russia talks this week in Saudi Arabia From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}