British troops should be sent to guard Ukraine’s border under any future ceasefire with Russia, Boris Johnson has said.
The former prime minister has said responsibility for keeping any deal intact should fall to a group of European peace-keeping forces.
Ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, which is expected to spark talks to end the conflict, Mr Johnson said British troops should be sent to Ukraine to maintain a ceasefire.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast, he said: “I don’t think we should be sending in combat troops to take on the Russians.
“But I think as part of the solution, as part of the end state, you’re going to want to have multinational European peace-keeping forces monitoring the border [and] helping the Ukrainians.
“I cannot see that such a European operation could possibly happen without the British.”
The former PM said Western countries should ensure Russia cannot simply re-arm and launch another attack on Ukraine down the line by making clear what security guarantees are on offer.
Foreign secretary David Lammy has said Ukraine is on an “irreversible pathway” to Nato membership once its war with Russia ends. Many countries in the military alliance are wary of Ukraine’s calls to be immediately invited to join.
I spoke with UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer and informed him about yet another act of Russian air terror targeting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, involving over 90 missiles and nearly 100 drones.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 28, 2024
I expressed gratitude for the UK’s unwavering support, including the… pic.twitter.com/o88ihS3wnJ
Mr Johnson’s proposal would likely see Nato’s Article 5, which states that an attack on one member is an attack against all members, triggered if Western troops acting as part of a UN peacekeeping force were attacked.
In the podcast, Mr Johnson said: “We need to be spelling out what kind of security guarantees we think are appropriate.
“The only thing that really works is a Nato Article 5 guarantee that has kept the peace in Europe for 80 years.
“It’s the reason the Baltic states are in Nato. It’s the reason that the Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Finns and the Swedes are now in Nato.”
Ultimately the former PM said the only long-term solution is to give Ukraine Nato membership, after three years of “abominable cruelty and carnage”.
His intervention comes after Vladimir Putin praised the incoming US president as “intelligent” and said he will “find a solution” to the conflict.
And on Thursday the Russian president threatened to strike Kyiv with Moscow’s new ballistic missile Oreshnik, which he claimed is comparable to a nuclear weapon in terms of its destructive power.
