More military support for Ukraine to be announced on Friday, defence secretary says
by 0 
More military support for Ukraine will be announced on Friday as the UK and its allies “must step up support”, the defence secretary said.
John Healey said the extra support will be announced at the 27th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.
The group is an alliance of about 50 countries – all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other nations – that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment there since April 2022, a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Politics latest: Starmer insists he is not watering down grooming gangs inquiry
Mr Healey said: “We cannot jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war.
“The daily reality for millions of Ukrainians continues – drone attacks, missile strikes, brutal fighting on the frontline – so we must put more pressure on President Putin to end his war and we must step up support for Ukraine both in the fight and in the push for peace.
“That’s why I’m grateful that so many of you who are here today will also be here tomorrow for the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group when we will pledge more military support to bolster Ukraine on the battlefield.”
Mr Healey and German defence minister Boris Pistorius will host the meeting the day after the UK defence secretary and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu led 30 defence ministers from the “coalition of the willing” in Brussels.
The group, which does not include the US, was set to discuss operational plans on Thursday afternoon for a multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
It will look at each nation’s capabilities and how they could be best used to support Ukraine’s long-term defence and security as part of what the Ministry of Defence called a “reassurance force”.
UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend.
Peace negotiations are ongoing between the US and Russia, however, US officials appear to be growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress after Donald Trump publicly suggested a month ago that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war.
Read more: Who’s in and who’s out of the coalition of the willing?
Leaders of nations that are part of the ‘coalition of the willing’ at a summit in Paris on 27 March. Pic: AP
Last Tuesday, the Kremlin described the latest US peace proposal as unacceptable in its current form because it does not solve the “root causes” of the conflict.
Mr Putin wants to dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state and has demanded Kyiv recognise Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and other partly occupied areas and pull its forces out, as well as a pledge for Ukraine to never join NATO and to demilitarise.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that Mr Trump is not “going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations” with Moscow.
Read more:
Two Chinese citizens ‘fighting for Russia’ captured in Ukraine
Zelenskyy makes dig at US over response to Russian attack
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Children killed in Russian missile strike
Despite the apparent impasse in talks, the coalition of the willing – which does not include the US – is continuing with its plans for when peace is agreed.
The latest development in the war has seen Mr Zelenskyy say Ukraine has intelligence that there are at least 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military.
On Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy released a video of a Chinese soldier taken by Ukrainian forces, with another captured by Ukrainian forces, he said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian denied claims there were “many more” Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russians in Ukraine.
