UK defence secretary believes Trump can still bring Putin to negotiating table

UK Defence Secretary John Healey remains convinced that US President Donald Trump could persuade Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to begin peace talks regarding Ukraine.

"President Trump is the figure that can bring Putin to the table, that can potentially deliver an end to the fighting," Healey said during a flight from Norway to Paris, where he was travelling to meet France's new defence minister, as quoted by Politico.

Healey stressed that the work of partners in the Coalition of the Willing is "regularly refreshed so that we can genuinely feel we're ready at the point of peace, whenever that comes, to step in and help secure that."

Politico noted that he had made his remarks after a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force in Bodø, where they signed a new partnership agreement with Ukraine.

Putin has not changed his position on his war against Ukraine or on potential peace talks after a planned meeting with Trump in Hungary was cancelled. The US president decided to impose sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies. Since then, tensions between the US and Russia have only increased, with both sides threatening to resume nuclear weapons testing.

At a recent meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump said that China and the US are working together to end the war in Ukraine but added that "sometimes you have to let them fight".

Trump claims that he will be able to bring Russia's war against Ukraine to an end because Russia would like to do business with the US.