The defence secretary John Healey has warned that forgetting about the war in Ukraine while talks take place between the US and Russia risks “jeopardising the peace”.
It came as Healey countered US President Donald Trump’s claim that Kyiv started the conflict amid a visit to Norway, near its border with Russia.
The cabinet minister urged allies to heap “maximum pressure” on Russian leader Vladimir Putin after Washington and Moscow met for discussions on brokering a settlement.
Europe is reeling from Trump blaming Ukraine for the war and criticising the country’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, for complaining that his country has been excluded from negotiations.
Asked about Trump’s assertion Ukraine “started it”, Healey said: “Three years ago, one country illegally invaded another, and since then, the Ukrainians have been fighting for their freedom.
“So whilst all the focus may be on talks, not even negotiations, our concern as defence ministers is that we’re not jeopardising the peace by forgetting about the war.”
Speaking near Kirkenes in the Arctic Circle, Healey added: “Our job as defence ministers is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position going into any talks.”
He stressed: “That means continuing to step up the military aid that we in Europe – alongside, we argue, the States – [maintain] because the maximum pressure on Putin is going to mean the maximum chance that he will negotiate seriously.”
Trump has said he was “disappointed” that Zelensky had complained about being left out of talks and suggested Kyiv should have been willing to make concessions to Moscow.
“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” the US leader said Tuesday.
Speaking at his own press conference, Zelensky said Trump is living in a “disinformation space” created by the Kremlin, which has repeatedly sought to blame Kyiv for the war.
“With all due respect to President Donald Trump, as the leader of a nation that we respect greatly… [he] is living in this disinformation space.”
Trump then responded on social media by branding the Ukrainian president “a modestly successful comedian and a “dictator without elections”.
The US President Trump wrote: “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and millions have unnecessarily died.”
Sir Keir Starmer has urged Trump to provide a “backstop”, and is expected to make the case for US security guarantees on a peace deal while on a visit to Washington next week.
The Prime Minister has committed to consider sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, but Trump has said the US would not “have to” deploy soldiers to monitor a possible ceasefire.
Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson, who was in office when the war began, claimed Trump’s statements are “not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action”.
Washington and Moscow started talks earlier this week to broker a peace in Ukraine, led by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Ukraine and European leaders were not invited to the negotiations, which took place in Saudi Arabia, and concluded with ground rules for further diplomacy.
Sir Ben Wallace, Johnson’s defence secretary, posted on X: “I think what President Trump is learning is that if you have no skin in the game you don’t get to decide the fate of Ukraine.
“I am sure they all enjoyed their four hour talks today but they probably shouldn’t have wasted their time.”
While former Tory minister Sir John Whittingdale called Trump’s comments “very disappointing and extremely worrying”, warning he was “filled with anxiety that this may result in a complete sellout of Ukraine”.
