RAF in talks to police skies above Ukraine
British fighter jets will police the skies above Ukraine under proposals being discussed by Sir Keir Starmer's coalition of the willing.
The Telegraph understands that key military planners discussed sending British Typhoons to Ukraine to provide air cover for troops when they met at Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) on Thursday.
It comes as Emmanuel Macron explores alternatives to his plan with Sir Keir Starmer to put European boots on the ground to protect a future peace in Ukraine.
The French president is considering the possibility of the mission being led by the United Nations, raising the subject at a European Council summit on Thursday, The Telegraph understands.
Sir Keir attended separate talks in Northwood, which were led by Lt General Nick Perry, the chief of joint operations, along with more than 30 nations who met to discuss how the coalition of the willing could help Ukraine.
The Prime Minister has already pledged to put British troops on the ground if Donald Trump successfully negotiates a peace deal with Vladimir Putin.
A senior RAF source told The Telegraph that air cover the British can supply would have been discussed at the meeting because in the event British soldiers go into Ukraine, 'there will be a requirement for top cover'.
'We would never send British troops out on the ground without giving them air cover,' he said.
The RAF would provide either Typhoons or F35s as both provide 'excellent air-to-air policing'.
Uncertainty over whether the US will supply any air cover in Ukraine has created the need for Britain to take the lead.Mr Trump has so far indicated that he will not provide any military support and called on Europe to step up shouldering the burden of supporting Ukraine.
Sir Keir said on Thursday that military planning for the coalition of the willing has been broken down into sea, air, land and borders, and the regeneration of Ukraine.
He said: 'The political momentum that we've built up... is being translated here into military planning and operational planning, and broadly broken out into different areas.'
'So we're looking at the sea in one scenario, the sky, obviously land and borders, and regeneration.'
However, during Sir Keir's visit to PJHQ he called for any deal to be 'defended'.
He said: 'We hope there will be a deal but what I do know is if there is a deal, the time for planning is now. It's not after a deal is reached.'
Sir Keir added: 'It is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach.
'We know that because it happened before. I'm absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again.'
While all nations across Europe have the ability to send fighter jets, it is only the US and France which can send Airborne early warning and control aircraft which provide critical surveillance, including detection of missiles.
However, the RAF source said 'the British Army and RAF will be part of the first vanguard into Ukraine'.
'The Brits will likely be one of the first nations to commit because everyone follows the Brits,' he said. 'If the Yanks aren't telling people what to do, it's for Keir Starmer to say.'
A number of nations would be involved in sending air cover at any one time, which would be operated on a rotational basis, the source added.
A No10 source stressed that nothing had been committed or confirmed in terms of air cover.
Britain has already agreed that as part of the Nato Enhanced Forward Presence, six Typhoons will be sent to Poland to conduct air-to-air policing for the first time in the coming weeks.
The source added that 'more could be sent' if Typhoons needed to be redirected to Ukraine as they would be in the right part of eastern Europe.
A defence source said that discussions on Thursday would have also included what any air cover looked like, which nations could provide the aircraft, to where they would be based and refuelled.
At defence talks in Paris last week, attended by John Healey, the Defence Secretary, and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the defence staff, senior military sources insisted the coalition of the willing would be more like a 'reassurance force' as opposed to a peacekeeping presence.
One senior military source stressed that the key priorities for the coalition were returning Ukraine's airspace and getting the Black Sea back into international waters.
'It's Ukraine having confidence in their own nation to start the economic journey and get displaced people back to their country,' he said.
Luke Pollard, the Armed Forces minister, set out some of the ways a peacekeeping mission could operate.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'If one nation offers fast jet combat air, like a Typhoon aircraft, for instance, how will the other nations work alongside it? Where will it refuel?
'How will it operate with other nations' capabilities?
'It's that type of planning that we're doing today to make sure that any force in or around Ukraine can be as credible as possible and, importantly, support our Ukrainian friends to defend their country and their front line, because it will be for them that this is primarily designed to support.'
It comes after Prince William met Ukrainian refugees in Estonia on Thursday, hailing 'the Ukrainian resilience'. On Friday he will join British troops stationed at the front line of Nato's defence against Russia, joining them in a field exercise at Tapa Camp, the Army base just 80 miles from the Russian border.
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