The Prime Minister visited Kyiv on Thursday and held talks with Ukraine’s President about how the UK can guarantee the country’s security in future.
But British officials have played down the prospect of any imminent decision given the uncertainty over how and when the conflict might end.
The Prime Minister added: “We are with you not just today or tomorrow, for this year or the next, but for 100 years long after this terrible war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again.”
“It’s about what the impact is back in the United Kingdom and our values, our freedom, our democracy. Because if Russia succeeds in this aggression, it will impact all of us for a very, very long time.”
Richard Dannatt, former head of the Army, said that 5,000-10,000 soldiers would be needed to safeguard Ukrainian and Russian borders, as well as the Royal Navy patrolling the Black Sea and the RAF policing the skies providing reconnaissance and air cover.
“We could do it, but then we would have to certainly put more resources into the Army, and set about growing the size of the Army. It’s a major issue that relates directly to the future size of the British Army. You start to run out of troops quite quickly.”
He added: “We have such a small Army, we’ve taken so much risk with defence, that if we did this, we would be able to do nothing else. At the worst case, it’s the whole of the British military being involved. The least worst case, it’s providing some command and control of a brigade of tanks and infantry.”
How peacekeeping mission could work
Up to 10,000 British soldiers could be deployed to Ukraine as part of any multinational peacekeeping force, former army chiefs believe.
The RAF would be needed to police the skies while the Royal Navy could be scrambled to patrol the Black Sea, according to Richard Dannatt, ex-head of the British Army, and Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former army colonel.
A British Army contingent could make up around 10-15 per cent of an allied coalition force, with tanks and artillery part of any battle group deployment.
Committing 5,000 British troops to Ukraine would mean another four brigades training to take over a six-month tour, putting the total number of soldiers involved at 25,000.
Millions of landmines scattered around Ukraine would be among risks facing troops, with the potential for a peacekeeping deployment to last decades, as with Cyprus or Northern Ireland.
Allied countries were focused on “putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position” and “there is no sign at the moment or the Russians coming to the table”, one official said.
The focus in 2025 and beyond that was making sure Ukraine was in the “strongest possible position”, they added. The strongest possible position would mean Ukraine being able to impose very heavy costs on Russia, as it is doing so currently, stopping further Russian advances and being able to sustain that for as long as necessary in materiel, manpower and finance, the officials said.
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