UK not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine to train soldiers
Britain currently trains Ukrainian troops on UK territory before sending them to the front line
The UK Government has refused to rule out sending troops to Ukraine to train the country’s soldiers – warning that revealing details of its future plans could help Vladimir Putin.
Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that an upcoming review of Britain’s defence policy will determine whether the country needs a missile defence system similar to Israel’s.
And he suggested that the “long-term planning for Nato” may eventually include spending more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, up from the current level of 2.3 per cent.
Healey has been in Kyiv holding talks with Ukraine’s government about ways to ramp up support to the war-torn nation.
Asked by the BBC if the UK would consider sending its own troops to Ukraine to train soldiers there, he replied: “The detail of our joint Ukrainian plan will have to remain, let’s say, unavailable to President Putin.
“But we are stepping up UK leadership in coordinating other nations, we’re stepping up the UK support for Ukraine, we’re determined that we will put Ukraine in a stronger position.”
Britain currently trains Ukrainian soldiers on UK territory before they return to their home country to rejoin the fight against Putin.
The Defence Secretary is leading a strategic defence review which will report back on various aspects of the UK’s military policy.
Asked by LBC whether it would include the possibility of a missile defence system, Healey told LBC: “Yes, in the SDR, when the Prime Minister commissioned it, we published the terms of reference, and it includes reviewing the strength of our homeland defences, and that in this day and age, with the sort of sabotage and threats that we’ve seen, for instance, to our undersea cables and communication lines, has a number of levels, and the SDR is considering that.”
He said that the question of whether defence spending should rise beyond 2.5 per cent of GDP would be part of “are discussions that may develop in the long term planning for Nato”.
He added: “Our job is to make sure that Putin does not win, does not prevail, and my job as Defence Secretary is to play the UK’s part in putting Ukraine in a position of strength.”
