The Defence Secretary will urge countries in the “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine to increase pressure on Russia as he and his French counterpart host the group’s next meeting.
John Healey and Sebastien Lecorno will host defence ministers from about 30 countries in Brussels on Thursday to continue operational discussions for a potential “reassurance force” to support Ukraine.
The UK and France have been at the forefront of discussions convening a group of nations who would be willing to join a force to deter Vladimir Putin from attacking again in the event of a peace deal.
UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the countries’ military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend.
Mr Healey will tell defence ministers they must put “even more pressure” on the Russian president and must not “jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war”.
He is expected to say: “A couple of weeks ago, I visited the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters where military leaders from around 30 nations were developing options and progressing plans.
“I was struck by their sense of historic responsibility to secure the peace in Ukraine and to strengthen European security for all our nations.
“We cannot jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war, so we must put even more pressure on Putin and step up our support for Ukraine – both in today’s fight and the push for peace.
“Our commitment is to put Ukraine in the strongest position to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and deter future Russian aggression.”
On Friday, Mr Healey and German defence minister Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of about 50 nations in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
The Kremlin has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting in Ukraine. The Kyiv government has consented to it.
Both sides are believed to be readying spring-summer military campaigns.
In the meantime, both countries have kept fighting a war of attrition along the roughly 620-mile front line and targeted each other with long-range strikes.
