UK says allies ready to support Ukraine before and after peace deal

The United Kingdom and its allies stand ready to support Ukraine both ahead of and after any negotiated peace deal, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Kyiv ahead of a high-level meeting in Paris on Thursday, Healey told the BBC that allied support would extend to helping "make the skies safe, to make the seas safe, and to secure the land" once a peace agreement had been struck. About 30 leaders are expected to take part in the Paris summit either in person or online, he said.

French diplomats attending preparations for the summit said technical work on possible security guarantees has been completed in the event of a ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron has described the central question as "the sincerity of Russia" in any commitment to halt hostilities.

Diplomats involved in discussions have identified an American "safety net" as a key element of proposed guarantees, designed to reassure Ukraine and deter further aggression if a ceasefire were agreed. Healey framed allied commitments as both preventive and stabilising measures to be available before negotiations and to underpin any settlement thereafter.

The comments come as Moscow projected a defiant tone on the eve of the Paris meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to have conveyed a message from China and vowed his full-scale invasion could continue. Healey dismissed some of those public statements as bluster, saying Russia remained under pressure on the battlefield and diplomatically.

The Paris summit is intended to co-ordinate international approaches to both safeguarding Ukraine during any negotiations and implementing security arrangements after an agreement. Officials say the work done ahead of the meeting focuses on technical and legal arrangements that would allow partners to provide rapid security assistance if a ceasefire were declared.

Allied assurances are being discussed alongside questions about verification, enforcement and the mechanisms that would link political and security commitments. Organisers have emphasised that the summit will be a forum for outlining possible models for guarantees rather than finalising a binding treaty.

Healey, who travelled to Kyiv for the BBC interview, said maintaining Ukraine's capacity to resist remained a priority while diplomatic channels continued. He reiterated that allied assistance would not only support negotiations but also help to implement and uphold any terms reached, in coordination with other international partners.

The meeting in Paris follows months of diplomatic activity aimed at shaping a framework for ceasefire and post-conflict security arrangements. Western officials have increasingly discussed layered approaches combining national guarantees, multinational deployments and potential US-led measures to provide deterrence, while stressing that the effectiveness of any package would depend on Russia's willingness to comply.

Organisers said the summit would bring together heads of state and government, ministers and senior officials to assess options and advance the technical work already undertaken. Participants are expected to use the meeting to agree on next steps and to set out the elements that would be necessary for a credible security architecture should talks move forward.

Negotiations over a ceasefire and peace are likely to remain complex and contingent on political decisions in Kyiv, Moscow and among Ukraine's partners. For now, Healey's comments signal a commitment by the UK and its allies to remain engaged both during negotiations and in any subsequent implementation phase should a deal be reached.