Britain reviews plans to protect Ukrainian ports

Instead of deploying ground forces, Britain and France are focusing on air and naval support for Ukraine.

Britain is likely to abandon plans to send thousands of troops to defend Ukraine because the risks are considered “too high,” The Times reported.

Instead, the focus of the commitment to Ukraine’s security will be on rebuilding and rearming the Ukrainian army, as well as ensuring its air and sea defenses.

British and French military instructors will be sent to western Ukraine. This will formally fulfill the commitment to deploy troops inside the country, but they will not be near the front line, guard key facilities, or protect Ukrainian troops.

The planes will protect Ukrainian airspace and provide air cover for Western forces on the ground. Turkey is likely to support the security of shipping in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, weapons from the UK and Europe will continue to arrive.

The softening of plans means that Britain and the EU will no longer have ground forces to protect key cities, ports and nuclear power plants in Ukraine. There is hope among allies that this change in military support may supposedly soften Moscow’s rhetoric in order to reach a peace agreement.

However, the issue has not yet been finally resolved and the Ministry of Defence has clearly stated that Britain will not be ready to abandon plans to send troops to Ukraine to one degree or another.

As a reminder, Western officials have previously discussed the presence of a military mission in Ukraine to protect key cities, ports and critical infrastructure. In total, it was planned to send up to 30,000 personnel.

Earlier, USM wrote that as of the end of March, Russia had destroyed or damaged 385 port infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.