UK military chief on a plan for Ukraine's security guarantees on land, at sea and in the air

The Chief of the UK General Staff, Sir Anthony Radakin, together with his French counterpart, leads the military dimension of the Coalition of the Willing and is conducting negotiations on post-war security guarantees for Ukraine.

Admiral Radakin will leave his post on 2 September. This week, he visited Ukraine together with his successor, Richard Knighton, currently Chief of the Air Staff, to introduce him to his Ukrainian partners.

Before departing, he met with European Pravda to give his final interview as Chief of the UK Defence Staff.

Read more about the negotiations regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and the disaster for Russia in the full interview by Sergiy Sydorenko, European Pravda's editor: UK military chief: Putin is at the core of this war, but people in Russia support his views.

I think there’s a very definite common position, which is to support the opportunity for peace. And that has gained momentum with President Trump. It's also a reflection of a bold position by President Zelenskyy and the willingness to have an unconditional ceasefire.

The crucial thing is: can we assist with the opportunity of a potential ceasefire and ideally a just and lasting peace? And how do we as the militaries come together to do that?

In the talks on Ukraine, we are much closer to a more generic and broader approach to collective security.

The UK and France have been very clear that we would look to put troops forward into Ukraine.

The British prime minister has said before that it would include British boots on the ground. But the predominant role will be in supporting Ukraine.

Ukraine needs to reconstitute its brigades, to regenerate them. You will get our continued support with some of the things that you already see. The Ukraine Defence Contact Group; NSATU, the NATO mission; EUMAM, the European Union Military Assistance Mission. You’ve also now got the PURL mechanism for America to provide more kit and for Europe to fund that American kit.

We would look to support so that Ukraine has European jets in the air and safe skies, and to also join some of the existing commitments between Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria in terms of having a Black Sea that is safe as well.

So the UK and France have made that really clear.

Now we’re having the conversations about who the other partners are going to be and about their level of commitment for when this moment arrives.

The conversations we're having are precisely around the question that you asked. And it's kind of two– or threefold.

One is that when the ceasefire emerges, that we cement that ceasefire, and we give confidence to the people of Ukraine that they are now on a slightly different path for their future. And that links in with the ambition for Ukraine to join the EU, to have stronger armed forces in the future, to return to the things that we all enjoy in terms of peace, prosperity and a successful democracy and so on.

That then is coupled with a longer-term journey, and the assurances and commitment to Ukraine in the longer term. And that is a very delicate, a very political conversation. I'm supporting it, but it would be wrong for me to detail the intricacies involved.

The discussion is running really quickly.

So people should be reassured that there is some momentum and there is a drive there. But we've got to be sensible about not playing all of this out in public.

In February 2022, I went with Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary. There were some elements of those conversations that we would keep private. We were really clear in telling Russia that we knew what they were envisaging, and telling them that if they proceeded with their plans, it would be a disaster for Russia.

And this has been a disaster for Russia. Russia is weaker now.

Victory for me is a Ukraine that is safe and secure, that enjoys peace, that is a flourishing democracy, that has the opportunity to be on a journey to prosperity, that can contribute to Europe in every sphere.

I am incredibly confident that that's the journey that we’re on.

This is a horrible time for Ukraine, but when you project forward, then it's Ukraine that really does have a bright future.