Britain is steadfast in its support for Volodymyr Zelensky (Image: Getty)
Defence Secretary John Healey has a simple message for Volodymyr Zelensky at Sunday’s emergency summit in London: “The frontline defence of the UK starts in .” The cabinet big beast is adamant that the security of Britain is directly linked to the fate of .
He says this country is standing together in support of and Britain should “step up” its military support to the embattled nation.
His words will provide encouragement for Mr Zelensky at the gathering of defence ministers, coming just days after his fractious press conference with President Trump raised questions about the future of US support.
“The UK remains united for ,” he said.
The Defence Secretary wants to see a “durable peace that stops simply reloading and re-invading”.
Mr Healey said Britain must “step up our military aid to and keep them in the fight” until the conflict stops and talks begin. He also emphasises the need to intensify detailed for on what future “security guarantees” could involve.
Britain is preparing how it will defend but Mr Healey does not expect UK forces to police a demilitarised zone running the length of the border, akin to the dividing line between North and South Korea.
He said: “The border of and is 1,000km long. That old-style separation force or peacekeeping force is a non-starter in and is not what may be required for the future.
“How we prepare for those security guarantees is complex. It requires work with allies.
“We’re leading that detailed work alongside the French, in close discussion with the Americans, with NATO, and with the Ukrainians.”
He added: “I’m proud of the role the UK is playing in that but I am not ready to give any more details in public because I don’t want to make President Putin any wiser.”
The 65 year-old argues NATO is now in a stronger position than at the start of the crisis as the alliance expands and countries increase defence spending.
He said: “NATO – contrary to what President Putin expected and wanted when he first launched his full-scale invasion of three years ago – is bigger and stronger now with Sweden and Finland in. I expect that the lead that the UK has given [in] stepping up defence spending will be followed by other European NATO nations so NATO will become stronger still.”
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Mr Healey insists Britain needs a modern military at this time of increased international uncertainty. Sir last week announced Britain’s defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027 – with the goal of it hitting 3% in the next parliament.
He said: “We’ve done it three years than people expected, we’ve fulfilled the manifesto commitment but we’re recognising the world is changing and we’re changing defence, too.”
The Defence Secretary wants the extra expenditure to boost jobs and economic growth in the UK. He stresses the need to harness the power of drones, Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing to defend the country.
Alongside the plans for investment, he wants to see a “long-term defence industrial plan”.
“The world is changing,” he said. “We must change defence.
“We must recognise the increasing threats we face and we must make our armed forces better ready to fight and better able with allies to deter the adversaries the threats we face.”
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Too often, he said, “defence innovation has been too small, too fragmented and too slow – and too often the start of the art technology or good ideas in the lab have not gone from innovation to production and then into the hands of our frontline troops. That’s the challenge for the future.”
Key questions remain about whether the size of the Regular Army will be expanded. At the start of the year there were just 73,847 regular soldiers – down from 75,166 a year earlier.
Mr Healey said: “The Strategic Defence Review [is] well-advanced. It is looking at all these questions – the threats we face, the capabilities we need for the future.
The Ministry of Defence has been blighted for years by headlines about procurement fiascos but he said he feels a “strong responsibility to make sure this increased defence investment is well-spent and we demonstrate better value for the British taxpayer and better value for British troops.”