Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoy ‘heading for meeting with Putin’ in Russia as US steps up ceasefire push

Addressing defence minister in Brussels, John Healey said: “2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine”.

“This is the critical moment, a moment for our defense industries to step up, and they are a moment for our militaries to step up, and they are a moment for our governments to step up, and we are together.

“We are sending a signal to Russia, and we are saying to Ukraine that we stand with you in the fight and we will stand with you in the peace.”

John Healey has warned countries not to jeopardise the peace process by “forgetting about the war”.

The defence secretary wants world leaders to ensure Ukraine remains in the strongest position possible as negotiations about a peace deal with Russia have stalled.

The fighting is ongoing and the UK fears Volodymyr Zelensky losing further ground and finding himself in a weaker position in future talks.

He said: “Today at this Ukraine contact group, we step up our support for Ukraine in the fight, and our job as defense ministers is to get urgent military aid into the hands of Ukrainian war fighters.

“And to those nations not making fresh commitments today, I urge you to look again, to look hard at what more you can do.”

John Healey has urged allies to “look again” at what else they can do to provide military aid to Ukraine.

The Defence Secretary has been opening the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Nato headquarters in Brussels this morning.

He said: “Today, at this Ukraine Contact Group, we step up our support for Ukraine in the fight.

“Our job as defence ministers is to get urgent military aid into the hands of Ukrainian warfighters.

“And to those nations not making fresh commitments today, I urge you to look again, to look hard at what more you can do.”

The group is committing £450 million in military aid to Ukraine today, and Mr Healey said: “All military aid now will help Ukraine in the fight today and help secure a durable peace tomorrow, because the Ukrainian armed forces must be their own strongest deterrent against further Russian attacks.”

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that America was “working for that war to end”.

Ms Bruce said President Donald Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio have both made it clear what is at stake if Russia does not come to the table for peace talks.

“It is a dynamic that will not be solved militarily, it is a meatgrinder,” she told reporters on Thursday. “Nothing else can be discussed before the shooting and the killing stops.”

The spokesperson said Mr Rubio has previously made it clear that it will soon be obvious whether Russia is serious about ending the conflict.

“This is not going to go on for six months or a year,” she said.

A key Trump administration diplomatic envoy has traveled to Russia ahead of meetings with Vladimir Putin, according to reports.

Steve Witkoff is expected to meet the Russian president on Friday, Axios reports, which would be their third meeting.

Last week on the sidelines of a Nato summit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it will soon become clear whether Russia actually wants peace.

“We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are,” he said.

British troops could help to train and rebuild Ukraine’s armed forces on the ground as soon as a “reassurance force” is deployed, according to reports.

The joint French and British-led force would also offer to help defend Ukraine’s air and seas, a report from The Telegraph says.

The report said Britain is considering deploying troops to Ukraine for five years, and military chiefs also discussed a plan for a phased withdrawal.

Ukraine’s military said Russia launched 39 drone attacks overnight.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces said they successfully shot down 24 drones and another 13 failed to reach their targets.

It did not say what happened to the remaining two drones.

Britain’s former top spy has advised US president Donald Trump not to rush a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, dangling the prospect of a Nobel prize if he does so.

Richard Dearlove, the ex-head of MI6, told NBC News that rushing a truce in the war could encourage president Vladimir Putin to launch other hostile forays into Europe.

“If you want to get the Nobel Peace Prize, don’t do a premature deal with Ukraine – wait,” Sir Dearlove said, adding that the Russians badly need a ceasefire as they face waning Kremlin cash reserves and the falling price of crude oil, which Moscow exports to fund its war machine.

“Ukraine is pretty close to a tipping point,” he said. “But the worry at the moment is that Trump will do a premature deal with the Russians” and make too many concessions, he said.

Britain is considering deploying troops to Ukraine for five years under plans being discussed by allies, unnamed sources told The Telegraph.

Under the plan, one of a number of options on the table, a European-led force would be dispatched to Ukraine to initially deter Russia from breaching any settlement and to offer Kyiv’s men some much-needed respite, the report added.

A “significant number” of countries are willing to provide peacekeeping troops in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia, a spokesperson for prime minister Keir Starmer said in March.

Defence secretary John Healey has urged his counterparts from around 30 countries to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia.

His plea to allies in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” on Thursday came as questions loomed over whether the US would be willing to provide such backup to the peace deal it is trying to rush through.

Chairing the first meeting of the coalition at the level of defence ministers, Mr Healey said its members must ensure “that we’re fully prepared for the moment a peace agreement is reached.”

“We must be ready for when that peace comes. That’s why the work of this coalition is so vital,” Mr Healey said at Nato headquarters in Brussels yesterday.

He added that 200 military planners have been developing plans to deepen European involvement in Ukraine.

Mr Healey said the “reassurance force for Ukraine would be a committed and credible security arrangement to ensure that any negotiated peace does bring what President Trump has pledged: a lasting peace for Ukraine.”