21/10/2025
The U.K. is prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine to secure a future peace deal in the country, British Defense Secretary John Healey has said, ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Peace is possible,” Healey said during a speech in central London on Monday. “If President Trump can broker a peace, then we will be ready to help secure that peace for the long term.” Why It Matters Trump said last week, after a two-hour phone conversation with Putin, he would meet the Russian president in Budapest “to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ war to an end.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not invited, but has said he is willing to attend while criticizing host country Hungary-whose leader Viktor Orbán is close to Putin and to Trump-for its opposition to support for Kyiv.
The location is likely to be sensitive for Kyiv, the Hungarian capital closely associated with the Budapest Memorandum, or the agreement Ukraine signed with the U.S., U.K. and Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kyiv agreed to give up nuclear weapons in exchange for security “assurances” that Ukraine’s independence and borders would be protected. Russia violated the memorandum in 2014 and 2022. The Alaska summit between Trump and Putin in August failed to yield concrete progress toward the peace deal Trump had pledged to secure for Ukraine. Although the Republican has become more overtly frustrated with Russia, he has held off slapping Moscow with punishing sanctions, which Ukraine has pushed for. European nations, led by the U.K. and France, have for months toyed with what a peacekeeping or stabilizing force of some kind would look like, and what guarantees the U.S. would need to provide to make it viable. What To Know Healey said the likely cost of deploying U.K. forces as part of what has been termed a “coalition of the willing” in Ukraine would be “well over” £100 million, or roughly $134 million. The U.K. has already earmarked millions in funding and checked the “readiness levels” of British troops to make sure a “multinational force Ukraine,” could be ready to head for the country quickly, the defense secretary said. Roughly 200 military planners from 30 nations have been involved in the preparations, Healey said. Progress on a European-led force for deployment in Ukraine post-ceasefire is “great news,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee and a member of Zelensky’s party. But a ceasefire deal under which the force would be needed still feels a remote prospect, Merezhko told Newsweek. European countries have watched on as Trump placed himself squarely between Russia and Ukraine, concern swirling over whether a U.S.-brokered deal will have Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, interests at heart. Merezhko said he hoped Trump would honor in a meeting with Putin the principle that Ukraine needs to be involved in deciding its own fate, and that European leaders also have a stake in a deal that could reshape European security.
Trump on Sunday suggested Ukraine and Russia should freeze their bitter conflict along the current front lines, which would cede vast swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia-which Kyiv has long refused to entertain. Under Ukrainian law, territorial changes can only be approved by a nationwide vote. Trump had last month swiveled in his long-held position on Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv could regain all of the territory Moscow currently controls with NATO assistance. Russia has seized about a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the country’s south and east. Trump then poured fresh doubt on this assessment on Monday, telling reporters: “They could still win it. I don’t think they will, but they could still win it.” Zelensky came out of a meeting at the White House on Friday without the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles the Trump administration had suggested could be on the table, but described having had a “pointed conversation.” British newspaper the Financial Times reported Trump had pressed Zelensky to accept Russia’s terms for a deal, citing people familiar with the matter who described the White House meeting as a “shouting match.” Trump reportedly urged Zelensky to cede all of the Donbas to Russia, even though Moscow does not exert control over the entire region. The Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where much of the fiercest fighting has taken place. Russia on Monday said its position was unchanged.
Merezhko said he “would like to see more consistency” from Trump in his messaging, and suggested the president may only follow through with a summit with Putin if he is sure it will mark a step forward, unlike in Alaska. Russia has kept up its intensive aerial bombardment of Ukraine despite White House criticism of its strikes across the country. Ukrainian authorities said early on Tuesday Russia had attacked overnight with two ballistic missiles, four anti-aircraft guided missiles, and close to 100 drones. Russia homed in on critical infrastructure in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, the region’s governor Ihor Taburets said in a post to messaging app Telegram. Vyacheslav Chaus, the governor of Chernihiv, a region north of Kyiv, said the area had been “subjected to a massive attack by strike drones” that had damaged the power supply to northern parts of the region and its main city. Zelensky said on Monday he was working with the U.S. to make sure Ukraine receives the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems it needs to intercept Russian missile attacks. “This is not an easy task, but it is one of the security guarantees for Ukraine-and it will work in the long term,” the Ukrainian leader said. He had said over the weekend Kyiv was prepping a deal to buy 25 Patriot systems.
What People Are Saying British Defense Secretary John Healey said on Monday: “As President Trump leads the push for peace, here in Europe, we are ready to lead the work to secure it in the long term.” What Happens Next No date has been fixed for the Budapest summit, and CNN reported a pre-summit meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov had been postponed. 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.