Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying he's 'ready' to send UK troops to Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer would put British troops in Ukraine to help guarantee a peace deal.

The US and Russian Presidents are holding talks on the war - but excluding EU nations, including Ukraine.

Starmer's said lasting peace is essential to deterring future aggression by Vladimir Putin - and he doesn't take putting British servicemen and women in harm's way lightly, but he'll do what it takes to guarantee Ukrainian security.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says there's fears about what Putin will take in a peace deal - and European leaders are set to express their concerns at the upcoming emergency summit in France.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gavin Grin is a UK correspondent. He's with US now
high given hither run and the UK PM this is Stama,
he said, he is really and willing to put UK
troops on the ground. He's written and up here in
the papers over the in Ukraine to help guarantee its
security as pan of a peace deal. But you know,
can you do that?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Are you?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Are you actually able to ah?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Very good question. At the weekend, Lord Danat, he's the
former head of the army, had given an interview saying
the UK military is so run down it couldn't lead
any future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. But that doesn't prevent,
of course, some involvement in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine,
which I think is what is going to be pushed

(00:43):
now at this meeting. As European leaders gather in Paris
for today's meeting, they have seen America contact Russia directly
to negotiate or try to negotiate some form of a
peace steal for the war in Ukraine, but they haven't
involved Ukraine itself, and European leaders are annoyed that being
right on their border, they aren't involved in it either,

(01:05):
which is why they're having this meeting later today and
Skirstarmer is meeting there. He's basically going to suggest that
this peacekeeping force is put in place, he said, putting
our ground on the troops if necessary, because when peace comes,
it cannot merely be a temporary pause before Putin attacks again.
That's the very real fear, having taken Crimea already, that

(01:28):
Vladimir Putin will accept more Land in a peace deal
and then perhaps well, nothing really happened. I'll try and
ma luck again. That's the fear of European leaders, that's
the fear of the Ukrainians, of course, and it comes
as the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to
meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
And nobody knows what president and President Trump is willing

(01:51):
to give away of Ukraine that isn't his to give away,
So huge concern here in Europe.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
What more do we know about the stebbing a tack
in Austria given.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well over the weekend, I'm afraid there was this horrid
attack in which a fourteen year old boy was killed
and five people wounded. It was a knife attack. A
twenty three year old Syrian asylum seeker is the main suspect.
He's been detained. It happened in the south of Austria,
near the border with Italy and Slovenia. Police initially said

(02:22):
they'd yet to establish a motive, and that is kind
of they're still their go to answer, but they say
they now do believe it could involve extremism specialists in
the investigation, and that is because plenty of people in
Austria are now reporting this is being linked to Islamic State.
There are some really awful pictures of a man sat

(02:42):
down having conducted the attack. It's alleged smiling at the
police officers waiting to arrest him, holding a knife. It's reported.
But I'm afraid, of course, this comes after the attack
in Munich in Germany, in which a car was driven
into a crowd of people. A couple of people over
the weekend who are injured have since died. And again

(03:03):
that was an Afghan man trying to seek some asylum.
So I'm afraid plenty for Europe to digest this morning,
and particularly as both countries in political turmoil. Germany goes
to the polls on at the weekend, with a strong
showing in opinion polls now for far right and right
wing parties, and Austria unable to form a government trying

(03:26):
to avoid involving the Freedom Party, the far right party
there which did so well in their recent elections.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Is it just me or does it seem like the
authorities there are much quicker now to admit or concede.
I suppose that the accused of these, you know, in
these attacks are asylum seekers. I suppose in contrast to
what was happening over in your country, it seems like
they're quite quick to say, yes, we're confirming this was

(03:53):
an asylum seeker, we believe what was behind this, and
this was the potential motive.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's a very interesting Yeah. There was so much criticism
at the attacks in Southport, northwest London by a single
man who went in and started to attack people at
a playgroup, and the police was so slow to come
forward with any information, and of course it led to
those riots when social media rumors took over. Yeah, I

(04:20):
think you might be right there. I think the UK
used to be quite quick in revealing what they knew
the authorities, but it would seem not anymore, and then
the big accusation of course, from America and others. Is
anyone that speaks out in a right wing voice is
immediately labeled far right and occasionally imprison or at court
for things they've said on social media.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah interesting, Hey, French customs, I love this story. If
customs officers have found nine dinosaur teeth during a routine
check of the Italian border.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's an extraordinary fine, isn't it. And it is a
road that is regularly checked, the road the eight motorway,
and they inspected a Spanish lorry and immediately apparently spotted
the fossils in two parcels. They then sent them off
to be examined in the nearby city of Menton, and

(05:14):
then an expert said, yeah, these are dinosaur teeth. They
are between seventy two and sixty six million years old,
and they believe to have come from Morocco. Now that's
quite interesting because that would suggest maybe this is a
lorry on board a ferry going from North Africa to
southern Europe. And one of the teeth is identified to

(05:38):
belong to a marine reptile measuring about three meters in length,
and three belong to another one called the most Asaurus
and aquatic creature that measured up to twelve meters. Suffice
to say, investigations are continuing and questioning continues.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
To what a fine for a routine chick? Evin, Thank
you for that. Kevin Gray, UK correspondent with us.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
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Speaker 1 (06:05):
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