UK and allies able to again Ukraine earlier than and after peace deal

The UK and its allies stand able to help Ukraine earlier than negotiations to finish the battle in addition to to safe an eventual peace deal, the UK defence secretary says.

On the eve of a top-level assembly in Paris, John Healey advised the BBC in Kyiv that Ukraine’s allies would “help make the skies safe, to make the seas safe, and to secure the land”, as soon as a peace deal had been struck.

But moments earlier, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had conveyed a defiant message from China, vowing that his full-scale invasion might proceed.

Healey instructed there was bluster in Putin’s phrases, insisting that Russia was underneath stress. He additionally praised US President Donald Trump who he mentioned had “brought Putin into talks” and “not closed off any options”, regardless of widespread criticism of the nice and cozy welcome Trump gave the Russian chief final month in Alaska.

As late as Tuesday, Trump mentioned he was “disappointed” in Putin, however he has mentioned that earlier than. He has additionally threatened to punish the Russian chief for the obvious refusal to finish the battle – and even meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for peace talks.

When requested on Wednesday whether or not the battle in Ukraine might finish quickly, Putin mentioned “there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel”.

“It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict,” he mentioned, earlier than threatening: “If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily.”

He went on to listing Russia’s maximalist calls for as typical – together with for the authorities in Kyiv to finish what he referred to as discrimination towards ethnic Russians – one of many allegations talked about as a pretext for the full-scale invasion of the neighbour he launched in February 2022.

As for assembly Zelensky, Putin appeared to mock the very concept – which Trump had mentioned he was prepared for.

“I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting. But is there any point? Let’s see,” Putin mentioned in Beijing.

Zelensky might at all times go to Moscow to see him, he mentioned – a “knowingly unacceptable” concept, Ukraine’s overseas minister was fast to level out.

Last week, France’s President Emmanuel Macron instructed Putin was “playing” Trump.

But John Healey confused that the US president “has not ruled out any further action, including economic measures, to put more pressure on Putin”.

“We in the Coalition of the Willing, nations like the UK are willing to put extra economic pressure on Putin. We’re willing to give extra aid to Ukraine so they can keep in the fight.

“It’s why we have handed right now £1bn ($1.24bn) of seized Russian belongings, recycled into army support and equipment to Ukraine. If you want, Putin’s soiled cash returned with curiosity.”

On Thursday, Macron will host a meeting of that so-called Coalition of the Willing – a grouping of allies of Ukraine, committed to enforcing any peace deal.

A source at the Élysée, Macron’s office, has said the group are now ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, only waiting for US confirmation that it will act as the ultimate backstop.

The proposed deal includes continuing to train and supply Ukraine’s own army.

It also envisages European troops being deployed to Ukraine – in unspecified numbers – to deter any future to Russian aggression – a signal that Ukraine can count on its allies “full solidarity and… dedication”, the Élysée source said.

Such a deployment would need a ceasefire, the responsibility for which “falls to the Americans who’re negotiating with the Russians”.

John Healey refused to give details, despite being pressed, “as a result of that can solely make Putin wiser.”

The German government is also playing down expectations of any big announcement at Thursday’s meeting.

For the time being, like Italy and other coalition members, Berlin has ruled out sending soldiers to Ukraine to police any future peace on the ground.

A German government spokesman told the BBC that the priority for now was getting Russia to agree to a ceasefire – which Putin has consistently rejected.

President Trump pressed Putin for that during their summit in Alaska last month, then emerged to cite Putin’s argument that finding a final deal would be a better way out of the the conflict.

In the meantime, Russia’s aerial attacks have intensified in both frequency and scale. On Wednesday night more than Russian 500 drones and 24 cruise missiles were launched at Ukraine.

Across the country, as civilians sheltered in basements or on the metro, the air defence guns went to work.

As usual, the government did not say whether any military targets were hit, but the impact for civilians is often devastating.

Last week, a Russian missile hit a block of flats in Kyiv killing 22 people, including four children, in one of the deadliest strikes since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

There is now a heap of stuffed toys in the ruins, and photographs.

From shattered stairways, residents emerge with potted plants and bags of clothes covered in dust that somehow survived the strike. A few steps away, others stand and stare at the wreckage.

A teenage girl said she had left the bomb shelter that morning because it filled with smoke after the first missile hit. Then a second landed across the road and her sister was killed.

Ihor Maharynsky only survived because he was out of town that night. His wife, Natalia, was in their fifth-floor flat and didn’t make it to the shelter. He had to identify her body in the mortuary.

“What type of strategic goal is there right here?” he demanded, looking around at a car park and a technical college nearby. “There’s nothing.”

Right now, Ihor sees no prospect at all of peace with Russia.

And like many Ukrainians, he is furious at Donald Trump for rolling out the red carpet in Alaska last month for Vladimir Putin.

“Peace talks with Putin? With this ****?” Ihor wanted to know, with a string of expletives. “It is peaceable people who find themselves dying.”