UPDATE - UK ready ‘to put boots on the ground’ to support Ukraine peace deal: Starmer

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By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UK is ready “to put boots on the ground and planes in the air” to support peace in Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday.

"We discussed a plan today to reach a peace that is tough and fair, that Ukraine will help shape, that is backed by strength, to stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin coming back for more,” Starmer said at a news conference with US President Donald Trump after a meeting at the White House.

"I'm working closely with other European leaders on this, and I'm clear that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last," he added.

Starmer said they had "a very productive" discussion.

"Obviously, as the president says, the deal has to come first. But yes, our teams are going to be talking about how we make sure that deal sticks, is lasting and enforced. So our teams will be talking about that," he added.

The UK will host 18 countries on Sunday to further talks on Ukraine, Starmer noted.

- Ukraine deal 'can't be peace that rewards the aggressor'

Both countries are focused on bringing an enduring end to the "barbaric" war in Ukraine, Starmer said, welcoming Trump's "deep and personal" commitment to bring peace and stop the killing.

"You've created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach an historic peace deal, a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world. That is the prize.

"But we have to get it right. There’s a famous slogan in the United Kingdom from after the Second World War. That is, that we have to win the peace. And that’s what we must do now, because it can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran," he said.

Trump has been criticized for cozying up to Putin while blaming his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war with Russia and calling him "a dictator."

"History must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader. So the stakes, they couldn’t be higher, and we’re determined to work together to deliver a good deal," Starmer said.