Military planners have proposed sending British Air Force fighters to provide air cover to any U.K. troop deployments in Ukraine following a peace deal.
Under plans discussed in London on Thursday, the Royal Air Force (RAF) would provide either Typhoon or F-35 combat aircraft to police the skies above Ukraine if the U.S. succeeds in negotiating a peace deal with the Kremlin, the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reported.
Military brass from more than 30 countries gathered at the U.K.’s Permanent Joint Headquarters to hammer out details on what a post-war “reassurance force” would look like in the embattled country.
Officials close to the talks have stressed that any allied military presence in Ukraine would not be a peacekeeping force but would instead be about “Ukraine having confidence in their own nation to start the economic journey and get displaced people back to their country,” the paper quoted one source as saying.
Specifically, the military presence would focus on securing Ukraine’s airspace and returning maritime traffic to the Black Sea, sources said.
Sir Keir Starmer, the U.K. prime minister, has committed to British boots on the ground in the event of a cessation of hostilities. Any British forces would require safe skies, however.
“We would never send British troops out on the ground without giving them air cover,” a senior RAF source told The Telegraph.
Starmer said on Thursday that the ‘coalition of the willing’ being built to serve in Ukraine will be made up of sea, land and air elements as well as a borders component and actions towards Ukraine’s regeneration.
“It is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach,” Starmer said. “We know that because it happened before. I’m absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again.”
The Telegraph pointed out that while all European states have the capacity to provide fighter jets, only France and the U.S. “can send airborne early warning and control aircraft that provide critical surveillance, including detection of missiles.”
Donald Trump has so far ruled out providing military assistance to Ukraine if peace is achieved.
