The United Kingdom and the allies ready to support Ukraine before and after peace

The United Kingdom and its allies are ready to support Ukraine before negotiations to end the war as well as to conclude a possible peace agreement, the British Secretary for Defense said.

On the eve of a high -level meeting in Paris, John Healey told the BBC in kyiv that the allies of Ukraine “would help to make the sky safe, to secure the seas and to secure the land”, once a peace agreement had been concluded.

But a few moments earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had transmitted a provocative message from China, promising that his large -scale invasion could continue.

Healey suggested that there were brass bands in Putin’s words, insisting that Russia was under pressure. He also congratulated US President Donald Trump, who, he said, “brought Putin into talks” and “closed any options”, despite the generalized criticism of the warm welcome that Trump gave to the Russian chief last month in Alaska.

Until Tuesday, Trump said he was “disappointed” by Putin, but he said it. He also threatened to punish the Russian chief for the apparent refusal to end the war – or even to meet the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for peace talks.

When asked Wednesday if 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 put an end to this conflict,” he said, before threatening: “Otherwise, we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily.”

He then listed the maximalist requests of Russia as usual – including that the authorities of kyiv put an end to what he called discrimination against the Ethnic Russians – one of the allegations mentioned as a pretext for the large -scale invasion of the neighbor he launched in February 2022.

As for meeting Zelensky, Putin seemed to make fun of the very idea – for which Trump said he was ready.

“I have never excluded the possibility of such a meeting. But is there a point? Let’s see, Putin told Beijing.

Zelensky could always go to Moscow to see him, he said-an idea “knowingly unacceptable”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine quickly stressed.

Last week, French president Emmanuel Macron suggested that Putin “played” Trump.

But John Healey stressed that the American president “did not exclude any other action, including economic measures, to exert more pressure on Putin”.

“We, in the coalition of volunteers, nations like the United Kingdom are ready to exert additional economic pressure on Putin. We are ready to provide additional help to Ukraine so that they can stay in the fight.

“This is why we have exceeded 1 billion pounds sterling today ($ 1.24 billion) of Russian active ingredients, recycled in military aid and the kit in Ukraine. If you wish, Putin’s dirty money returned with interest.”

Thursday, Macron will host a meeting of this so -called coalition of The Will – a group of Ukraine Allies, determined to assert any peace agreement.

A source at the Élysée Palace in Macron’s office, said the group was now ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, expecting only American confirmation that it will serve as a ultimate safety net.

The proposed agreement includes the continuation of the training and the supply of the army of Ukraine.

He also envisages European troops deployed in Ukraine – in unrecognized number – to dissuade any future towards Russian aggression – a signal that Ukraine can count on its allies “full solidarity and … commitment”, said the source of Élysée.

Such a deployment would need a ceasefire, whose responsibility “falls to the Americans who negotiate with the Russians”.

John Healey refused to give details, despite his hurry, “because it will only make Putin wise.”

The German government also plays expectations of any major announcement at Thursday’s meeting.

For the moment, like Italy and other members of the coalition, Berlin has excluded the sending of soldiers to Ukraine to control future peace on the ground.

A spokesperson for the German government told the BBC that the priority for the moment was to ensure that Russia accepts a cease-fire-that Putin has always rejected.

President Trump pressed Putin for this at their top in Alaska last month, then emerged to quote Putin’s argument that a final agreement would be a better way to get out of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Russia’s air attacks have intensified both in frequency and in scale. On Wednesday evening, more than 500 Russian drones and 24 cruise missiles were launched in Ukraine.

Around the country, while civilians sheltered in the basements or on the metro, the air defense, went to work.

As usual, the government has not said if military objectives had been affected, but the impact of civilians is often devastating.

Last week, a Russian missile struck a block of apartments in kyiv, killing 22 people, including four children, in one of the deadliest strikes since the Russia’s large -scale invasion.

There is now a pile of toy in stuffed in the ruins and photographs.

Broken staircases, residents emerge with pot plants and bags of clothing covered with dust that survived the strike. A few steps away, others stand and look at the wreck.

A teenager said that she had left the bombs refuge that morning because he filled smoke after the first missile. Then a second landed through the road and his sister was killed.

Ihor Maharynsky only survived because he was out of the city that evening. His wife, Natalia, was in their apartment on the fifth floor and did not go to the refuge. He had to identify his body in the morgue.

“What type of strategic objective is there here?” He demanded, looking around a parking lot and a nearby technical college. “There is nothing.”

Right now, Ihor is not seeing any perspective of peace with Russia.

And like many Ukrainians, he is furious at Donald Trump for deploying the red carpet in Alaska last month for Vladimir Putin.

“Peace speaks with Putin? With this ****?” I wanted to know with a series of explanatives. “These are peaceful people who die.”