Defense Secretary John Healey told the British daily he’s not ruling out sending instructors to train Kiev’s forces
British Defense Secretary John Healey has suggested that UK military instructors could be deployed to Ukraine to train the country’s military, The Times has reported. Healey stated that London should do more to streamline the existing training program and better tailor it to Kiev’s needs.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the UK has emerged as one of Kiev’s staunchest backers, having prepared tens of thousands of Ukrainian military personnel on its soil since then. Moreover, according to the British daily, the country has deployed a “small number” of troops to Ukraine to “help with medical training.”
In recent months, the leaders of several NATO member states have floated the idea of sending military personnel to Ukraine in a “training and assistance” capacity.
In its article on Wednesday, The Times quoted Healey as saying while on a visit to Kiev that the UK should “make the training a better fit for what the Ukrainians need.”
“We [need to] make it easier to the Ukrainians to access and we [need to] work with the Ukrainians to help them motivate and mobilize more recruits,” he added.
When asked by the newspaper whether this would entail training Kiev’s troops in their home country, Healey refused to give a definitive answer, merely pledging to “look wherever we can to respond to what the Ukrainians want.”
According to the BBC, citing unnamed sources, the defense secretary has kept the option on the table. During his trip to Kiev, Healey insisted that “Russia is failing to win,” adding that “we can put a lot more pressure” on Moscow.
Last month, French newspaper Le Monde reported that the UK and France had “reactivated” talks on deploying troops to Ukraine. Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he would not rule out such a scenario. However, many fellow NATO member states were quick to back away from his suggestion.
Even the defense minister of Estonia – one of Kiev’s most ardent supporters – has expressed little appetite for such a deployment. Hanno Pevkur argued in late November that the risks of such a move would outweigh the benefits.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted at the time that there is currently no consensus among Western countries about sending troops to Ukraine, and dismissed those discussing such a move as “hotheads.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously warned that such a deployment could result in a “serious conflict in Europe and a global conflict.”
