Ukraine-Russia war mapped: Where British troops could be sent as part of Starmer’s ‘peacekeeping force’

Ukraine’s future may well have changed dramatically this week after the US held its first talks on ending the war with Russia.

However, there are concerns that with Kyiv not included in discussions and Donald Trump openly attacking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, a Washington-Moscow peace deal will only leave the war-torn country disappointed.

As European leaders scramble to secure influence over a potential war settlement - despite being left out of the talks in Riyadh - British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will reportedly detail a peacekeeping plan involving 30,000 European troops when he visits Mr Trump in Washington next week.

Ukraine has so far refused to agree on giving up any land to the invading Russians. This comes despite US pressure, with defence secretary Pete Hegseth saying earlier this month that Ukraine’s demand for a return to pre-2014 borders is an “unrealistic objective” which will “only prolong the war and cause more suffering”.

With the three-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion approaching and president Vladimir Putin’s forces pushing forward in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, The Independent has produced a map of the current frontline and the key spots where British peacekeeping troops could be stationed.

Where could UK troops be stationed in Keir Starmer’s plan?

The Anglo-French “reassurance force” would be stationed in key Ukrainian cities, nuclear power stations and ports, a leaked report claims.

But they would be nowhere near the current frontline, a western official told the Telegraph. This means vital sites and cities such as Dnipro, the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, and Odesa port could be among the places where European troops will be stationed.

“Technical monitoring” involving intelligence and surveillance aircraft, providing a “complete picture of what is going on”, would be key to the plan and allow European countries to avoid sending large numbers of troops.

It would be supported by the “US backstop” which Mr Starmer called for earlier this week. This could involve US fighter jets in Romania and Poland, or a large multi-national land force stationed on Nato’s eastern borders ready to move into Ukraine if necessary to protect European troops.

The backstop would mean forces on the ground would have the “confidence” that any forces deployed would “not be challenged by Russia”.

However, there is no guarantee the plan would be approved and even if it was, concerns have been raised by British military figures and experts that the UK simply does not have sufficient forces to provide troops on the suggested scale. The British government has declined to comment on the report.

What is the latest on the frontline?

Russia currently occupies a little under 20 per cent of Ukraine, including parts of four regions of mainland Ukraine, as well as the Crimean peninsula.

Moscow claims to be advancing in all directions. A top Russian general said it has taken back more than 309 square miles of territory from Ukraine in Russia’s western Kursk region - about 64 per cent of the total taken by Ukraine since an incursion began last year.

Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi, head of the General Staff's main operational directorate, said Russia now controls 75 per cent of Ukraine's Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk regions

The Russian war machine has been edging forward in a grinding war of attrition in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Thousands of Russian soldiers have been thrown into heavy gunfire and shelling on the frontline, with Russia regularly losing more than 1,000 troops in one day according to Kyiv and its allies.

Russia is looking to cut off routes to Pokrovsk, a vital strategic city for Ukrainian supply lines on the eastern front. It has persistently crept forward mile-by-mile, after capturing the front line town of Kurakhove

Mr Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2014, when he illegally annexed Crimea. It is widely believed he then ordered unmarked soldiers known as “little green men” to fight on behalf of Russia in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

In February 2022, he then ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reportedly hoping to take the country in just three days.

After being pushed back from Kyiv and northeastern Ukraine, the latest iteration of Mr Putin’s land grab focused on the four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

In September 2022, he illegally annexed these four regions, none of which are completely controlled by Russian forces.

He has since repeatedly claimed that he will only agree to end his invasion of Ukraine if Kyiv cedes these four regions to him.

Ukraine and the country’s European supporters have suggested this would amount to rewarding Mr Putin for his illegal land grab.