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BRITISH troops could be deployed to Ukraine to enforce an 800-mile buffer zone as part of Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict.
Details of the President-Elect’s plan to end the war emerged after a call with Ukrainian President Zelensky following his victory.
Zelensky has congratulated the new president-elect
British troops could be sent to the frontline in Ukraine
AFPTrump has repeatedly vowed to end the war in Ukraine and has previously said he would start peace talks as soon as enters office in January.
His plan sees a demilitarised zone down the locked front line as well as Kyiv agreeing not to join NATO for 20 years.
In exchange, the US would continue to arm Ukraine to the teeth to prevent Putin from invading again.
But the US would not send troops to enforce the buffer zone nor finance the mission.
A member of the Trump team told the Wall Street Journal: “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European.
“We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
The plan comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on his historic election win and said Moscow is ready to talk over resolving the conflict.
Speaking at the Valdai discussion club in Sochi on Thursday, he said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America.”
The Russian leader also praised Trump for surviving an assassination attempt back in July.
He added: “He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man.”
Referring to Trump’s remarks during the election campaign about Ukraine and Russia, he said: “What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion this deserves attention at least.”
Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace to Ukraine within 24 hours if elected.
The 72-year-old Kremlin chief gave just one note of caution: “I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue.”
The Russian dictator later made an unusual remark saying he felt as if Trump was “bullied” during his first spell in the White House.
In response, Trump told NBC News that he had not yet spoken to Putin but that “I think we’ll speak”.
Speaking to The Telegraph former chancellor George Osborne said it was not realistic for the UK to back Ukraine without US support.
He said: “Is it realistic to expect a complete victory for Ukraine, the complete ejection of Russia from Ukrainian territory?
“And if it’s not, you know, it may suit our vanity in the West to say ‘plucky Ukrainians’, [but] it’s not our children who are dying.
“It’s also totally unrealistic, in my view, to think that Europe alone, including the UK, can go on supporting Ukraine without the support of the United States, even though Joe Biden actually is rushing to spend the $61 billion that Congress recently voted in terms of American aid for Ukraine before he leaves office.”
Meanwhile, Kyiv is anxiously waiting to see Trump’s next move while Ukrainians told The Sun they hope the new President-Elect will be the “wake-up call Europe needs.”
A doctor who took part in the 2014 revolution, Vasyl Pazynyak, 56, said his friends and family spent a sleepless night anxiously following coverage of the US presidential elections.
He told The Sun: “You know, without US support, Ukraine would have stopped being an independent country.
“Probably 90 or even 100% of my friends didn’t sleep, waiting to see what would happen in America, because we have to understand that if it weren’t for the support of the United States of America and then the European Union, Ukraine would have ceased to exist as an independent state.
“Because Putin, with his ambitions, could have taken us in a few months to half a year. And that’s why we anticipated Trump’s victory with great bewilderment and great anxiety.
“He promised that he would end the war. He didn’t mention about the price, and Americans aren’t very interested in foreign policy.
“Europe needs to grow up. Europe needs a wake-up call. They have a meeting of the European Council and the European Commission, even in some secret mode, and they should think about how to increase the amount of weapons, first of all for themselves.
British troops could join Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline
British soldiers from Royal Welsh Battlegroup take part in maneuvers during NATO exercise Hedgehog on the Estonian-Latvian border
English (US)