UK Defence Secretary John Healey is in Kyiv to discuss plans to provide more support to Ukraine next year, without giving specific details of the plans, but defence sources say he has not ruled out sending UK troops to Ukraine to help train Ukrainian soldiers, on Thursday, the 19th of December, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
So far, training of Ukrainian troops has taken place in the UK. There is a small group of British army medics providing training in Ukraine.
Healey arrived in Kyiv pledging 225 million pounds of additional military support – more drones, artillery shells and air defences.
But he said he had discussed how to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position next year, saying this would require more weapons, more training and more sanctions against Russia.
Defence sources say that one of the options being considered is to send British troops to Ukraine to help train Ukrainian forces. But speaking to the BBC, Healey refused to give specific details.
“The details of our joint Ukraine plan will have to remain, shall we say, inaccessible to [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin,” he said.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end the war, but has not said exactly how he will do it. Healy said he would wait to hear Trump’s plans, adding that his main duty is to do everything he can for Ukraine while it continues its fight.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy also said the discussion would focus on what additional support is needed to “put Ukraine in the strongest possible position as we approach 2025 and during”.
“It is critical that allies across Europe step up their support for Ukraine, the training that their forces still need, the finance that we still need in the longer period, and we need to find innovative ways to find that finance,” he added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also discussed the situation in Ukraine with Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.
“The Prime Minister reiterated that allies must stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position,” a Downing Street spokesman said.