MOD chief John Healey has said UK forces would help rebuild Kievs army, according to a letter cited by the newspaper

British troops would help "rebuild" the Ukrainian armed forces under a potential deployment to the country following a ceasefire with Russia, UK Defense Secretary John Healey has said, according to The Telegraph.

The UK and France have led discussions in recent weeks among several European NATO member states about sending military personnel to Ukraine as part of a so-called "coalition of the willing," once Kiev and Moscow have agreed a ceasefire. Russia has strongly objected to Western troops being deployed to Ukraine under any pretext.

In an article on Sunday, The Telegraph cited a letter reportedly sent last week by Healey to Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge. In it, the British defense chief is said to have written that "we expect those objectives to focus on rebuilding a modern and capable armed forces of Ukraine, rather than delivering combat operations."

According to the newspaper, Healey defined the potential British contingent's goal as helping Kiev "regenerate an armed forces capable of deterring future Russian aggression." UK military personnel would likely be stationed in Western Ukraine, away from the front line, The Telegraph claimed.

In addition, the British Royal Air Force and Navy would reportedly be on standby to cover Ukraine's air space and territorial waters, if necessary.

The Telegraph cited Healey as claiming that the coalition's actions would be in line with US President Donald Trump's effort to establish a "just and lasting peace" between Ukraine and Russia.

Last Thursday, The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the UK had ditched plans to deploy a military contingent to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire as the "risks are too high and the forces inadequate" for such an undertaking.

The newspaper claimed that in a marked departure from the previous vision, involving coalition forces guarding key Ukrainian cities, ports, and nuclear power plants, the Western grouping now favored a training mission that would "'reassure' by being there but aren't a deterrence or protection force."

In an interview with TASS published last Thursday, Sergey Shoigu, secretary of Russia's National Security Council, warned that the presence of Western troops in Ukraine could lead to a direct confrontation between Moscow and NATO, potentially escalating into a third world war. Shoigu, who previously served as Russia's defense minister, emphasized that Moscow could use nuclear weapons "in the event of aggression," conventional or otherwise.

(RT.com)