UK ready to spend over £100 million to base troops in Ukraine

In particular, Healey delivered a lecture at London’s Mansion House to outline the efforts made over the past six months by Britain and France to build a Coalition of Willing from more than 30 countries to form what he called the Multinational Force Ukraine.

These forces would help secure Ukraine’s airspace and maritime borders, ensure the protection of its frontiers, and provide training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine - if Trump acts as a mediator in achieving a ceasefire and Russia agrees to end its full-scale war.

“So, as President Trump leads the push for peace here in Europe, we are ready to lead the work to secure it in the long-term. For our Armed Forces, I am already reviewing readiness levels and accelerating millions of pounds of funding to prepare for any possible deployment into Ukraine,” Healey said.

When asked about the amount, he replied that it would be much more than £100 million.

Healey made a strong statement of Britain’s support for Ukraine, including record assistance of £4.5 billion in 2025, and noted that he has taken on the role of co-chair of a broader group of nations providing weapons and funding to Kyiv in place of the US.

“This is why President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy calls the UK his closest ally. This is why Putin ranks Britain as his number one enemy,” the British Defence Secretary said.

At the same time, he warned that as Russia’s aggression grows - both in Ukraine and beyond - Britain and our NATO allies are becoming more united and stronger.

Commenting on the current security situation, the Defence Secretary noted that the world today has become more unstable.

“This is - undeniably - a new era of threat. The world is more unstable, more uncertain, more dangerous. Not since the end of the Second World War has Europe's security been at such risk of state-on-state conflict,” the minister said.

According to Healey, in light of this, a new era of defence is needed.

“This is now an age for hard power, strong alliances and sure diplomacy,” he emphasized.

The minister also stated that the plans for this new era include increasing defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

“As I look ahead to the rest of this decade, our task, in this new age of hard power is to secure peace in our continent and to forge stronger deterrence and resilience, a New Deal for European security,” Healey said.

In addition, he addressed the situation in the Middle East, announcing that Britain will assign a two-star officer to serve as deputy commander of the US Armed Forces, who will be responsible for overseeing the observance of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Deployment of Western troops in Ukraine

In 2025, the Coalition of the Willing was established — a group of European countries that began developing European security guarantees for post-war Ukraine.

In particular, at the beginning of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that European leaders had agreed to deploy their troops in Ukraine, and there was already an understanding of the approximate number of soldiers.

Recently, the head of the Ukrainian state also stated that the European security guarantees for Ukraine are practically finalized on paper.

“It’s good that we’re discussing security guarantees, the US is not opposed. The European part is almost ready, nearly on paper, covering what European partners can provide,” he said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine needs security guarantees from the US, since Russia could violate any peace agreements that may be reached.

Later, in an interview with NBC News, he clarified that the parties are already discussing possible U.S. security guarantees, and the countries are moving toward a concrete outcome.