Britain plans to deploy military trainers and engineers to Ukraine within a week of a ceasefire. Photo / Getty Images
Britain is poised to put boots on the ground in Ukraine within a week of a ceasefire being declared, the Telegraph understands.
Plans have been made for hundreds of British military trainers and engineers to enter the country if fighting pauses to help rebuild Ukraine’s armed forces.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also approved the use of Royal Air Force fighter jets to help police the skies over Ukraine with allies to ensure Russia does not breach any truce.
The decision comes as US President Donald Trump met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska today for peace talks.
Speaking from Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump warned he was “not going to be happy” unless a ceasefire in Ukraine was agreed at their meeting.
“I want certain things. I want to see a ceasefire,” Trump said.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today. Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop.”
The US President, who was due to sit down one-on-one with Putin at Elmendorf Air Force Base, said: “This is not to do with Europe. Europe’s not telling me what to do, but they’re going to be involved in the process, obviously, as well as [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, but I want to see a ceasefire rapidly.”
On Friday, Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey stressed the UK’s willingness to send in British soldiers and declared they would fight back if attacked.
It would mark a significant escalation in Britain’s role in helping Kyiv see off the Russian threat towards Ukraine, bringing with it risks for those deployed.
The plans have been worked on for months with European allies in a drive dubbed the “coalition of the willing”, but have taken on renewed urgency this week.
Trump’s meeting with Putin to scope out the chance of a peace deal left Kyiv and other European capitals watching from the sidelines.
The US President offered few clues about his genuine hopes before the talks, framing the meeting as a listening exercise and downplaying the chances of a deal being struck.
On his way to Alaska, Trump said Putin “wants a piece” of American economic success in a sign that the incentive of lifting tariffs is being dangled by the White House.
Speaking before the talks, Healey, who has been closely involved in military planning about what would follow a ceasefire declaration, reiterated that Britain was prepared to deploy soldiers.
Sending British troops within a week of a ceasefire would send a message that the West is not turning its back on Kyiv. It would take many more weeks to scale up Britain’s contributions to peacekeeping efforts.
Healey said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As the Prime Minister has said, in the circumstances of a ceasefire, we are ready to put UK boots on the ground in Ukraine.
“That is, in part, to reassure Ukrainians, but it is also in part to secure the safe skies, safe seas and to build the strength of the Ukrainian forces.
“Because in the end, the best, the strongest deterrent against Russia re-invading or regrouping and relaunching their aggression against Ukraine is the strength of Ukraine to stand for itself, to defeat and deter and to defend itself.”
Hours before Trump and Putin were due to meet, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) released defence intelligence that piled pressure on the White House not to give away more land.
It showed the slow progress Russia was making on the battlefield in taking four areas of Ukraine that Putin is targeting: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The MoD said that at the speed of Russian gains seen this year it would take Putin 4.4 years or 1.9 million extra casualties to fully seize all four areas.
The intervention appeared to be an attempt to publicly urge Trump not to give Ukrainian-held land to Russia in talks that it has little hope of taking soon by force.
It came hours after Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of Britain’s Armed Forces, wrote in the Telegraph that the West “should not be cowed” by Putin and that Nato must be “assertive in every domain”.
The Telegraph understands Britain would act quickly if a ceasefire was agreed between Ukraine and Russia and put into place.
The first British soldiers would go into Ukraine within the week, with deployments likely to be declared in public to show Russia the West was not turning its back on Kyiv.
It would take many more weeks from there for the full scale of what is being planned to be put in place, including sending Typhoons and F-35s on patrols in the skies above Ukraine.
Starmer first declared Britain was willing to put boots on the ground in Ukraine to help oversee any ceasefire back in February via this newspaper.
In the months since, military planners have been regularly discussing behind the scenes the practicalities of how the “coalition of the willing” would work if the fighting were paused.
The original thinking was that a land army of Western allies tens of thousands strong could be sent in to help Ukraine police a new border with Russia after a ceasefire had faded.
Instead, three areas of immediate focus have emerged: sending in Western soldiers to help rebuild Ukraine’s armed forces; using coalition jets to police the skies above Ukraine; and using naval vessels to clear landmines more quickly from the Black Sea.
It is the first of these – rebuilding Ukraine’s military – that is considered the most urgent priority by British Government insiders in deterring another Russian invasion and is expected to see rapid action.
Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Britain has taken the lead in training Ukrainian soldiers on UK soil in what was dubbed “Operation Interflex”.
After a ceasefire is declared, British military experts would instead be sent into Western Ukraine to train troops there, speeding up the process and improving efficiency.
British military engineers – both inside the Government and from the private defence sector – are judged by the UK to be some of the best in the world.
Britain will send engineers into Ukraine if fighting pauses to repair drones and tanks. More weaponry, machines and equipment are also expected to be donated.
Starmer publicly said this week that the coalition’s operational plans, which include the setting up of a joint headquarters in France, are ready to go.
The push to clear the Black Sea of mines would accelerate the work already being done by the Black Sea Task Force formed by Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria last year.
The focus of coalition land troops on strengthening Ukraine’s military, not manning any new frontline declared in the ceasefire, would reduce the danger posed to British soldiers deployed.
Yet the new approach would still bring significant risks. It remains unclear what security guarantees – if any – Trump has offered should the European troops in Ukraine get attacked by Russia after a ceasefire is declared.