John Healey to chair meeting after Government was instructed by the Americans to take charge on enhancing Ukraine’s security within Nato
Danielle Sheridan Defence Editor
06 February 2025
The UK is to take over the leadership of the Ukraine defence group from the US.
Next week, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, will convene the 26th Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels.
It will be the first time the UK has led the group, after it was instructed by the Americans to take charge on enhancing Ukraine’s security within Nato.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the UDCG will meet ahead of the Nato defence ministers’ meeting on Wednesday to discuss priorities for Ukraine as the international community continues to work together to support the country in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.
Pete Hegseth, the new US defence secretary, will be in attendance along with up to 50 other nations, as first reported by The Times.
It comes as the US has vowed to take a lesser role in Europe, with Donald Trump having called on Nato members to increase their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.
Currently the UK spends 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence. However, Labour pledged last month to set a deadline for raising this to 2.5 per cent by the spring.
A senior defence source told The Telegraph that Mr Healey’s central role in next week’s meeting “shows UK leadership on Ukraine”.
“This is us showing the UK is continuing to work with the US and allies to step up support for Ukraine,” he said.
“It is an opportunity to show that European nations are ready to do more – working alongside our US allies.”
The group first met in April 2022 and has been chaired each time by the US, however it is understood that the UK had hoped to take the chairmanship before President Trump took office.
It is understood that Mr Trump’s administration is expected to present his plan to end the war in Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference next week.
The plan, which is to be presented to allies by Keith Kellogg, the president’s special representative for Ukraine, will include potentially freezing the conflict and the territory occupied by Russian forces while reassuring Ukraine with security guarantees to ensure that Moscow cannot attack again.
Mr Trump has previously claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine in one day.
He has since threatened Putin with a fresh round of tariffs and sanctions unless he stops the war.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has openly backed the US president’s plan to secure a ceasefire, however Putin has not indicated his position.