PARIS — The British defense secretary has insisted Donald Trump is capable of persuading Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks on Ukraine even as negotiations continue to stall.
Asked by POLITICO if a ceasefire in Ukraine would be more difficult to achieve than that in Gaza, John Healey said a comparison could not be drawn between the two — with one exception.
“President Trump is the figure that can bring Putin to the table, that can potentially deliver an end to the fighting,” he said, speaking on a flight from Norway to Paris as he traveled to meet the new French defense minister. Trump played a key role in brokering the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Healey stressed that the work of the coalition of the willing — allies of Ukraine pledged to offer security in the event of a ceasefire — was being “regularly refreshed so that we can genuinely feel we’re ready at the point of peace, whenever that comes, to step in and help secure that.”
The headquarters of the coalition is now up and running in Paris, and includes senior British military personnel.
Healey made his comments following a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force in Bodø where they signed a new partnership with Ukraine.
Putin has not budged since a planned meeting with Trump in Hungary was canceled, and the U.S. president decided to sanction Russia’s two largest oil companies. Tensions have only grown between the U.S. and Russia since, with both sides threatening to resume nuclear weapons testing.
At his recent meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump said China and the U.S. are working together on ending the war in Ukraine, but “sometimes, you have to let them fight.”
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