Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

British Defense Minister John Healey has suggested that the UK could send troops to Ukraine for a training mission. During a visit to Ukraine, Healey told The Times that the UK would work to improve its training of Ukrainian troops and wouldn’t rule out sending trainers to Ukraine.

"We [need to] make it easier to the Ukrainians to access and we [need to] work with the Ukrainians to help them motivate and mobilize more recruits," Healey said.

When asked if that could involve sending troops to Ukraine, Healey said, "We will look wherever we can to respond to what the Ukrainians want. They are the ones fighting."

Russia has repeatedly warned against Western countries sending troops to Ukraine for training purposes, saying any NATO soldiers would be legitimate targets of the Russian military.

According to the The Times, which accompanied Healey on the trip, the defense chief is actually calling for escalation at moment other European leaders are urging caution:

En route to Kyiv, he said now was “one of the most critical periods of the war”, adding: “The year may be ending, but the war is not. This is the time to step up further in Ukraine on every front.”

Leaks have revealed that British soldiers have been on the ground in Ukraine throughout the war, but they have been unofficial, covert deployments.

Earlier this year, a German military leak revealed that British soldiers are in Ukraine helping fire Storm Shadow missiles, which recently began striking targets inside the Russian mainland, marking a major escalation of the proxy war.

The Discord leaks revealed that as of March 2023, 97 NATO special operations soldiers were inside Ukraine, including 50 British soldiers. In April 2022, The Times reported that British Special Air Service soldiers were in Ukraine training Ukrainians on anti-tank weapons.