U.K. could train soldiers in Ukraine : U.K. Defence Secretary

Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey visits St Sophia Cathedral during a visit to Kyiv on December 18, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The U.K. could send troops to Ukraine to train Ukrainians, U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey has suggested. The U.K. has only a team of medical personnel within Ukraine and has been training Ukrainian troops within Britain since 2022. The suggestion comes as European countries seek to strengthen Kyiv’s hand before it any negotiations to end the war with Russia.

The U.K. would need to make the training of troops “a better fit” for what Ukraine needed, Mr. Healey said en route to Kyiv on Wednesday (December 18, 2024), as per a report in The Times.

“We will look wherever we can to respond to what the Ukrainians want. They are the ones fighting,” he said when asked about whether this meant British troops training Ukrainians in Ukraine, The Times reported.

Western countries have aided Ukraine in terms of financing, weaponry and intelligence but avoided sending troops to the country in order to not become direct parties to the conflict with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Mr. Healey’s remarks came on a day when U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone. Mr. Starmer told Mr. Trump that allies would need to stand together to support Ukraine and ensure it is “in the strongest possible position” , Downing Street said.

Several European countries and the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are trying to ensure that Kyiv is strengthened before any negotiations with Moscow.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated this message on Wednesday in Brussels during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some other European leaders, who had gathered in the Belgian capital for a European Union summit level meeting with Mr. Zelenksyy on Thursday.

Mr. Trump has suggested the U.S. could pull out of NATO and curb funding for Ukraine. The President Elect has also expressed a keenness had called for an “immediate ceasefire” after meeting Mr. Zelenskyy in Paris on December 8.