The UK's Defence Secretary says his country and its allies are ready to support Ukraine ahead of negotiations to end the war, as well as secure a final peace deal.
Ahead of a high-level meeting in Paris on Thursday, John Healey told the BBC in Kiev that Ukraine's allies would "help secure the skies, seas and land" once a peace deal is reached, Gazeta Express reports.
He spoke after Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a defiant message from China, vowing that its full-scale invasion could continue.
Healey suggested there was bravado in Putin's words, insisting that Russia was under pressure. He also praised US President Donald Trump, who said he had "brought Putin to the table" and "had not closed any options", despite widespread criticism of Trump's warm reception to the Russian leader last month in Alaska.
As of Tuesday, Trump said he was “disappointed” with Putin, but he has said so before. He has also threatened to punish the Russian leader for his apparent refusal to end the war — or even meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for peace talks.
When asked on Wednesday whether the war in Ukraine could end soon, Putin said "there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel."
"It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict," he said, before threatening: "If not, then we will have to solve all our tasks militarily."
He continued to list Russia's maximalist demands as usual – including that authorities in Kiev end what he called discrimination against ethnic Russians – one of the accusations cited as a pretext for the full-scale invasion of its neighbor that he launched in February 2022.
As for the meeting with Zelensky, Putin seemed to scoff at the very idea - which Trump had said he was ready for.
"I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting. But does it make any sense? Let's see," Putin said in Beijing.
Zelensky could always go to Moscow to meet him, he said – an idea “consciously unacceptable”, the Ukrainian foreign minister was quick to point out.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that Putin was "playing" with Trump.
But John Healey stressed that the US president "has not ruled out any further action, including economic measures, to put more pressure on Putin."
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