Agreeing a deal to end the war in Ukraine will involve “difficult diplomatic conversations” with allies, a UK defence minister has said.
Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said options were on the table but insisted nothing had been agreed, after a summit of western leaders in London.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has floated the idea of a month-long truce between Russia and Ukraine.
But Pollard told the BBC that was “not a plan we currently recognise” and warned a temporary pause in the fighting could give Russia time to regroup.
He told the BBC that any peace deal had to be backed up by US security guarantees to deter Russian from attacking Ukraine again.
US President Donald Trump has not agreed to provide any security guarantees and has instead focused on a deal to open up Ukrainian minerals to American companies.
Russia has flatly rejected the idea of western troops being sent to Ukraine as part of any peace deal.
President Macron had suggested a partial, month-long truce between Russia and Ukraine, in which both would agree to a truce for four weeks in the air, on the sea and around energy infrastructure, but it would not cover ground fighting along the frontline in the east.
Eléonore Caroit, a member of the French foreign affairs committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that President Macron’s proposal sent a “very strong message” to Europe “that if we want, we can do something”.
“This shows that we’re capable of making proposals and that these proposals can lead somewhere,” Caroit said.
But Pollard told the BBC it was “not a plan that we currently recognise”.
He added: “Certainly there are a number of different options being discussed privately between the UK, France and our allies… What we are certainly doing is looking at what plan would bring peace as soon as we can, and what plan creates a lasting peace.”
Sunday’s summit in London came after an explosive spat between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last week.
Pollard insisted the US remained the UK’s closest ally, despite the differences in the approaches of Europe and the US to any Ukraine peace deal.
“We have a strong special relationship, an enduring friendship with them. That won’t change,” Pollard said.
“But what we should be doing, as indeed the prime minister is, is continuing to have those difficult diplomatic conversations that seeks to bring all our European and American friends to the table to create a plan for a lasting peace in Ukraine. That does involve some really difficult and tough conversations.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted the London summit as allies scramble to shape peace negotiations and smooth over fractured relations between Trump and Zelensky.
On Monday afternoon, the prime minister will update MPs on his meeting with the US president in Washington last week and his conversations with European allies on Sunday.
At the summit, Sir Keir announced a four-point plan to work with Ukraine to end the war and defend the country from Russia.
The plan involves including Ukraine in talks, continuing to supply it with military aid, boosting its defence capabilities and building a “coalition of the willing” to defend a deal to end the fighting.
The UK and France are taking a leading role and have both committed to send soldiers to Ukraine, under the proposals.
But apart from increasing spending on defence, there appears to be no consensus on a plan to end the war among European leaders.
Defence Secretary John Healey is expected to visit the US later this week to move discussions forward.
In other developments over the weekend:
- Zelensky said he was prepared to resign as president if his country was granted membership of Nato, the western security alliance
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will present a plan to “rearm” Europe in the coming days
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves signed off a £2.26bn loan scheme to help Ukraine buy weapons and fund its reconstruction after the war
- Sir Keir has announced a £1.6bn missile deal for Ukraine.
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