UK considers sending troops to train Ukrainians

The Ministry of Defence is considering the possibility of sending British troops to Ukraine to help train that country's armed forces.

Defence Secretary John Healey has been in the capital Kyiv to discuss plans to provide more support to Ukraine in the coming year.

He declined to give details of those plans, but defence sources say he has not ruled out sending UK troops to Ukraine to help train.

At the moment, Britain has been training Ukrainian troops in the UK. There is also a small team of British Army medics providing training inside Ukraine.

The UK and other Nato members have not sent troops to Ukraine or enforced a no-fly zone over the country, for fear of being pulled into a direct conflict with Russia. However, individual members have supplied arms and equipment.

Healey came to Kyiv with the promise of an additional £225m of military support – for more drones, artillery shells and air defences.

But he said he had also been discussing how to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for the coming year. That, he said, involved more weapons, more training and more sanctions on Russia.