The Labour frontbencher will make an address in Norway after meetings with Norwegian defence minister Tore Sandvik deep within a mountainside fortress.
Watch live: Defence Secretary John Healey holds press conference in Norway
UK Defence Secretary John Healey will give a press conference addressing the crisis in Ukraine this afternoon after Donald Trump’s misleading attacks.
The Labour frontbencher will speak at around 1.30pm in Norway amid growing unrest across Europe following Trump’s tirades. Mr Healey has been meeting Norwegian defence minister Tore Sandvik to discuss the continent’s security, including Ukraine and defending the high north from Russia.
It follows Putin apologist Donald Trump’s baseless attacks on Volodymyr Zelensky, who has complained about being frozen out of controversial peace talks. The US administration is showing increasing signs it will capitulate to Putin – despite warnings the Russian warmonger will strike again if Trump doesn’t stand firm.
Government ministers have been desperately trying to avoid getting dragged into a war of words with the White House, but have made it clear they do not agree. On Wednesday morning culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the UK takes “a different view” and does not consider Mr Zelensky a dictator.
Keir Starmer has given the Ukrainian leader his backing after Trump suggested Zelensky does not have public support – parroting Kremlin propaganda. The PM is set to travel to Washington DC next week – his first face-to-face meeting since Trump returned to the Oval Office in January.
Mr Starmer is walking a tightrope trying to avoid conflict with the petty President, who has already threatened tariffs on steel and other goods – a move that would wipe billions from the UK economy.
Ms Nandy told BBC that the UK considers the Ukrainian president “to be a legitimate leader”. She continued: “We stand with Ukraine, and our belief in that our support for Ukraine is unshakeable.”
Trump this week made the extraordinary claim that Ukraine was to blame for the war, and said Mr Zelensky could have made a deal. He went further in a social media rant, stating: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
A delighted Putin said the US was finally receiving “objective information”. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could barely hide his delight either. Medvedev, a key ally of Putin, said: “If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud.”
Mr Zelensky said the US President is living in a “disinformation bubble”. He suggested the Hungarian and Slovak governments could be feeding him wrong info. He went on: “This is all concerning. Everything they are doing is to make sure that Ukraine is weak.”