Defence secretary to urge coalition of the willing to increase pressure on Russia to end war

The defence secretary will urge "coalition of the willing" nations to increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine as plans to support peace ramp up.

John Healey and French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu will lead about 30 defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday as they discuss operational plans for a multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine as part of the "coalition of the willing".

They will look at each nation's capabilities and how they could be best used to support Ukraine's long-term defence and security as part of what the Ministry of Defence called a "reassurance force".

UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend.

Peace negotiations are ongoing between the US and Russia, however, US officials appear to be growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress after Donald Trump publicly suggested a month ago Vladimir Putin wants to end the war.

Read more: Who's in and who's out of the coalition of the willing?

Last Tuesday, the Kremlin described the latest US peace proposal as unacceptable in its current form because it does not solve the "root causes" of the conflict.

Mr Putin wants to dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state and has demanded Kyiv recognise Moscow's annexation of Crimea and other partly occupied areas and pull its forces out, as well as a pledge for Ukraine to never join NATO and to demilitarise.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday Mr Trump is not "going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations" with Moscow.

Read more:
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Despite the apparent impasse in talks, the coalition of the willing - which does not include the US - is continuing with its plans for when peace is agreed.

Mr Healey is expected to tell his fellow defence ministers: "We cannot jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war, so we must put even more pressure on Putin and step up our support for Ukraine - both in today's fight and the push for peace.

"Our commitment is to put Ukraine in the strongest position to protect Ukraine's sovereignty and deter future Russian aggression."

On Friday, the defence secretary and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, will chair the 27th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

The group is an alliance of about 50 countries - all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other countries - that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment since Russia invaded in April 2022.

Mr Healey and Mr Pistorius will "drive forward additional military support" as Russia continues to attack Ukraine.

The latest development in the war has seen Mr Zelenskyy say Ukraine has intelligence there are at least 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military.

On Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy released a video of a Chinese soldier taken by Ukrainian forces, with another captured by Ukrainian forces, he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian denied claims there were "many more" Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russians in Ukraine.