In reaction to the recent United Kingdom defence secretary’s comment, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday said that there are no immediate plans to deploy troops to Ukraine.
Inorder to avoid a direct conflict with Russia, Britian and its allies has been distancing from a military presence in Ukraine. However, in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, defence secretary Grant Shapps said he was in discussion with the British army about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine.
Reacting to Shapp’s remarks, Sunak said that his suggestion was not for “the hear and now” but a possibility for the long term.
There are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict, said Sunak.
Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said that any British soldiers training Ukrainian troops in the war-hit nation would be targets for the Russian forces.
UK had provided training to around 20,000 Ukrainian troops over the last year.
Shapps also said that he also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week about Britain’s Royal Navy helping to defend commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
He also added that he hoped British defence companies such as BAE Systems would proceed with plans to set up arms factories in Ukraine.