Thousands of British troops could lead a multi-national military force in Ukraine as part of controversial plans to end the conflict with Russia.
The shock proposal emerged last night as Vladimir Putin – in his first remarks since Donald Trump's election victory – dismissed Nato as 'a blatant anachronism'.
Under a peace bid being considered by Mr Trump's security advisers, UK and other European troops would enforce an 800-mile buffer zone between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.
Yesterday President Zelensky met European leaders in Budapest at a summit of the European Political Community, where he warned offering concessions to Russia would be 'suicidal' for Europe.
No United States troops would be sent to the warzone and it would be for Britain and other states to pick up the tab.
The plan, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, matches the isolationist rhetoric of Mr Trump's presidential bid.
On the campaign trail Mr Trump criticised the scale of US support for Ukraine – a commitment of $175 billion – and boasted he could broker a deal to end the conflict.
Last night, senior UK security sources reacted furiously to Mr Trump's move, insisting it favoured Russia and condemned Ukraine to a carve-up of its territory. Speaking at a security conference in Sochi, Putin seized upon the vulnerability of Nato under a Trump presidency by mocking the organisation's reliance on the US.
He claimed that without US leadership Nato would no longer be able to dominate its 'zone of influence'. Putin's assessment is supported by official Nato figures which reveal the US currently spends twice as much on defence as all other members of the alliance combined. Mr Trump's 'America First' strategy includes withdrawing from Europe's security apparatus.
Such a scenario – and Putin's possible response to it – arguably represents the most significant threat to Nato since its inception following World War Two.
Setting out his country's foreign policy agenda, Putin added that Nato was subject to 'the diktat of the older brother', meaning the US.
He then compared this imbalance to the supposed equality of the BRICS group of countries – an intergovernmental organisation led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Reacting to the Trump peace plan for Ukraine, former British Army commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: 'This would be a capitulation to Putin rewarding him for his war crimes.
'As British troops act as peacekeepers in what is currently Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine, I fear Putin will re-arm and plan an assault on the Baltic states. The plan, as outlined, favours Russia and is exactly what the Kremlin wants to hear.'
Former UK military intelligence officer Philip Ingram added: 'Any forced peace that would give Russia a veneer of winning territory would potentially stimulate World War Three.'
