The UK and Europe may need to offer security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a deal with Russia, regardless of US support, the former head of the armed forces has said. Retired General Sir Nick Carter believed it was for Ukraine to decide “what it sees as a fair settlement”, but that the UK and European countries “need to step up to the plate” when it comes to guaranteeing Ukraine’s sovereignty. He told BBC One’s Question Time special that “if the Americans are not prepared to do that then some others are going to have to step up to the plate”. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a “US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia”. He said the UK was willing to provide peacekeeping troops if necessary, but a US “backstop” would be needed. It comes as a rift between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who has said the US would soon begin direct negotiations with Russia, appeared to deepen in recent days. The US president called Zelensky a “dictator” and suggested Ukraine was responsible for the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022 and that a peace deal could have been struck earlier. The Ukrainian leader said the US president was “living in a disinformation space” created by Moscow. Meanwhile, Washington has also suggested Europe needs to take greater responsibility for its own defence. Sir Nick, the former chief of the defence staff, said Ukraine’s sovereignty needed a “copper-bottom guarantee”. He also warned the UK armed forces are “remarkably hollow” after a “process of neglect over a 30-year period”.
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