'Ukraine must be at the heart of talks with Russia', says UK Defence Secretary after Trump announces plan to meet Putin
13 February 2025, 09:24 | Updated: 13 February 2025, 09:26
The UK Defence Secretary has declared there can be no peace negotiations for the war in Ukraine without Ukraine’s permission after Trump announced plans to begin talks with Russia.
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Donald Trump has said that the US will seek to claw back some of the money that it has sent to Ukraine, as he agreed to meet with Vladimir Putin and begin negotiations to end the war.
The US president said he wanted to get back part of the money his country has provided to Ukraine since the invasion in 2022 "in some form".
Trump and Putin had a 90-minute phone call on Wednesday in which they agreed to meet and begin negotiations to end the three-year war.
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His Secretary of Defence said earlier that European countries would now have to provide "the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine".
Speaking today, UK defence secretary John Healey said: "There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine and Ukraine's voice must be at the heart of any talks."
He added: "We all want to see a durable peace and no return to conflict and aggression - and let's not forget, Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine.
"Ukrainians are fighting bravely ... it's our job as defence ministers here at Nato, to put them in the best position to secure a lasting peace through strength."
Discussing his phone call with Putin, Trump said: "We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other's nations," Trump posted on social media.
The pair agreed to have "our respective teams start negotiations immediately" where the war in Ukraine is concerned.
Trump said later that he expected to meet Putin in Saudi Arabia. He said he was unsure when the meeting would be but that it would take place in the not-too-distant future.
The president also said he believed Putin "wants peace".
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"We will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," Trump said on Wednesday.
Trump claimed the leaders both "believe very strongly" in common sense and have also committed in a phone call to visit each other's countries.
The US president also spoke to Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of their conversation and denied that he was freezing him out of talks.
"The fact he was on the phone with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy today shows he is actively involved in negotiations," Karoline Leavitt told the media during a White House press conference on Wednesday evening.
At a Nato meeting in Brussels earlier in the day, America's defence secretary said Europe should be "empowered" to "own responsibility for its own security".
