UK army too ‘run down’ to steer Ukraine peace mission, says ex-Military chief

The UK army is “so run down” it couldn’t lead any future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the previous head of the Military has mentioned.

Lord Dannatt instructed the RAYNAE that as much as 40,000 UK troops can be wanted for such a mission and “we simply have not acquired that quantity accessible”.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer mentioned the UK would “play its half” in guaranteeing Ukraine’s safety after the prime minister was requested this week if he was open to sending British troops as peacekeepers.

A former Nato chief instructed the RAYNAE that Britain and France ought to lead a power of as much as 100,000 troops as a part of a long-term peacekeeping effort ought to Russia’s struggle with Ukraine finish.

US President Donald Trump earlier this week introduced he had had a prolonged dialog along with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and that negotiations to cease the “ridiculous struggle” in Ukraine would start “instantly”.

Trump then “knowledgeable” Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, of his plan.

Lord Dannatt – who was head of the Military from 2006 to 2009 – agreed {that a} power to maintain the peace would require about 100,000 troops.

Nevertheless he mentioned the UK must provide “fairly a proportion of that and we actually could not do it”.

“Our army is so run down at the moment second, numerically and so far as functionality and tools is anxious, it might doubtlessly be fairly embarrassing,” he instructed RAYNAE Radio 4’s The Week in Westminster.

“I imply, if we had been to deploy 10,000 troops, every rotation for six months, that might successfully tie up 30,000 or 40,000 troops and we simply have not acquired that quantity accessible.

“So there are some huge points right here that immediately’s politicians will not actually have thought-about.”

It comes as Britain’s international and defence secretaries referred to as on the UK and Europe to “do extra” to “share the burden” of regional safety in a joint article for the Each day Telegraph on Saturday.

UK Overseas Secretary David Lammy mentioned he was “very inspired” by his talks on Ukraine with US Vice-President JD Vance on Friday, on the primary day of the Munich Safety Convention.

“We share the view that there must be an everlasting peace,” Lammy instructed Reuters information company following the assembly.

“There was an settlement that Zelensky and the Ukrainians should be a part of that negotiated deal.”

The talks got here after Vance gave a speech on the convention, during which he was anticipated to deal with potential talks to finish the struggle however as an alternative attacked European democracies.

Within the handle, he mentioned the best risk dealing with the continent was not from Russia and China, however “from inside”.

He added that Europe should “step up in a giant means to supply for its personal defence” and mentioned he hoped a “affordable settlement” may very well be reached for the struggle.

Lammy and his defence colleague John Healey mentioned that Putin had for twenty years sought “to recreate the Russian empire and suffocate the international locations round its borders”.

“Too usually prior to now, the West has let him,” they mentioned within the Telegraph.

“We did too little in 2008 when he invaded Georgia, and in 2014 when he first went into Ukraine.”

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was Nato secretary-general from 2009 to 2014, mentioned “quite a lot of European international locations have to step as much as the plate” for any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, including that the UK and France ought to lead that coalition by placing boots on the bottom.

“I might let army specialists decide [the number] however my guess can be between 50,000 and 100,000 troops,” he instructed RAYNAE Newsnight.

As of October 2024, there have been 74,612 members of the UK’s common Military forces (excluding Gurkhas and volunteers), in accordance with the newest Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures.

The Military has targets on what number of new recruits under the rank of officer it ought to tackle yearly, set out by the MoD. These targets have been missed in nearly each single monetary yr since 2010-11, in accordance with a written reply to Parliament final January.

Lord Dannatt mentioned the Labour authorities would want to “take a look at their priorities”, including: “Sure, well being, schooling, roads, infrastructure are necessary, however truly defence and the safety of this nation are extra necessary.”

The crossbench peer mentioned he believes the UK authorities must go additional than its dedication of accelerating defence spending to 2.5% of GDP – a pledge that they’ve but to place a timeline on when it will likely be delivered.

Zelensky has beforehand requested for the UK and different European allies together with France to ship troops to Ukraine for a peacekeeping operation after the struggle.

Sir Keir final month signed a “landmark” 100-year pact with Ukraine, constructing on the £12.8bn the UK hass already despatched to the nation, with additional commitments of £3bn yearly for “so long as it takes”.

The UK may even proceed to coach Ukrainian troops, 50,000 of whom have been educated on British soil to this point.

In response to Lord Dannatt’s feedback, an MoD spokesperson mentioned Britain’s armed forces had been “revered worldwide for his or her professionalism and excellence”.

“Proper now, the Ukrainians are nonetheless preventing with big braveness. Our authorities is stepping up help for Ukraine’s struggle fighters to place them in the absolute best place for any talks.

The spokesperson cited a £150m “firepower package deal” introduced this week “offering extra drones, tanks and air defence methods”.