UK to spend over £100m on deploying British forces to Ukraine

British Defence Secretary John Healy has said the UK is prepared to spend over £100m on a possible deployment of British forces to Ukraine if Donald Trump secures a peace deal with Russia.

The Defence Secretary's plan involves training military personnel to join a multinational force that would be sent to help secure Ukraine's borders if the US president brokers a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev.

John Healy has signalled that British troops could be ready to deploy as soon as that happens. Some of the expected funding for each mission is already being spent. The defence secretary also warned of a "new era of threat" and said the risk of wider conflict in Europe had not been greater since the end of World War II.

John Healy made the comments during a lecture at the Mansion House in London on efforts led by the UK and France to build a "coalition of the willing" of more than 30 countries to form what he called a "Multinational Force in Ukraine". The "Coalition of the Willing" will meet in London on Friday. John Healy also said Vladimir Putin considers Britain his "number one enemy" because of its support for Ukraine.