‘Europe must play its role,’ Keir Starmer said on Monday after a meeting of European leaders in Paris.

The UK prime minister added: ‘I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground, alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement. But there must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.’

European leaders, including Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have been excluded from talks in Riyadh between the US and Russia about ending the war in Ukraine. While the details of a peace plan remain undecided, and Zelenskyy says he will not accept a deal unless Ukraine is at the table, it leaves profound questions about the future security of Europe.

‘We’re seeing a gulf between the US and Europe the likes of which we haven’t seen since before the second world war,’ Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, tells Hannah Moore.

‘I think the European leaders are relatively unified in the sense that they all strongly believe that support for Ukraine must continue, that they recognise in different ways that Europe must step up. But there are differing views at the moment about whether to participate in some kind of deterrence force or security force in Ukraine.’

What role should the UK play in protecting Ukraine in the face of future Russian aggression? And are British troops prepared?

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