Britain’s top military chief has fired a warning shot to the West to not be cowered by Vladimir Putin.
In a rare and hard-hitting intervention, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin – the head of Britain’s Armed Forces – urged NATO to be ‘assertive in every domain’, from nuclear weapons to cyberspace, as Donald Trump gears up for a high-stakes one-on-one with the Russian president in Alaska tomorrow.
Sir Tony’s comments come amid fears that Trump could cut a peace deal over Ukraine that sidelines Kyiv‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
But the US president has insisted he won’t be pushed around, declaring Putin ‘wouldn’t mess with me’ and promising swift action – either a breakthrough or more sanctions – if talks collapse.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump vowed to ‘set the table for the next meeting’ and warned: ‘If it’s a bad meeting, it will end very quickly, and if it’s a good meeting, we will end up having peace in the very near future’.
European leaders have been rattled by the possibility of Trump and Putin striking a deal without their input.
But Trump offered reassurance, saying a second meeting – potentially involving Zelensky and selected European leaders – would be where the ‘real’ decisions are made.
‘The more important meeting will be the second meeting that we’re having, we’re going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself and European leaders, maybe not,’ he said.
In a rare and hard-hitting intervention, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin – the head of Britain’s Armed Forces – urged NATO to be ‘assertive in every domain’, from nuclear weapons to cyberspace
Sir Tony’s comments come amid fears that Trump could cut a peace deal over Ukraine that sidelines Kyiv ‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelensky, notably excluded from Friday’s meeting, was in London yesterday for talks with Sir Keir Starmer
‘The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don’t want to use the word “divvy” things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it’s not a bad term’.
Marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day in The Telegraph, Sir Tony stressed NATO’s post-war unity, arguing: ‘Putin doesn’t want a war with NATO because he would lose. So we should not be cowed by his rhetoric or his campaign of sabotage, outrageous as it may be.’
He added: ‘The one weapon that is most needed in our arsenal is confidence.’
Sir Tony dismissed claims of major Russian advances, revealing they’ve taken less than 0.4 per cent of Ukrainian territory this year, despite losing over a million soldiers killed or wounded.
Meanwhile, Putin arrived in the US flanked by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and defence minister Andrei Belousov.
In a calculated charm offensive, the Kremlin leader praised Washington’s ‘energetic’ push for peace – comments Trump brushed aside, again warning: ‘I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me.’
Zelensky, notably excluded from Friday’s meeting, was in London yesterday for talks with Sir Keir Starmer, posting online that they discussed ‘security guarantees’ to make any peace deal lasting.
Zelensky posted online that he and Starmer discussed ‘security guarantees’ to make any peace deal lasting
A blaze in a residential area following a powerful explosion as emergency services respond to the aftermath of the fire, on August 14, 2025 in Sloviansk, Ukraine
Behind the scenes, Trump is said to be ready to tempt Putin with lucrative incentives – including access to rare earth minerals in occupied Ukraine, lifting sanctions on Russian aircraft, and even tapping into Alaska’s natural resources.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly weighing up economic trade-offs to speed up a ceasefire.
But Trump has privately admitted there is still a one-in-four chance the summit will fail.
It comes after Trump warned Putin ‘there will be very severe consequences’ if Russia does not agree to stop the war in Ukraine after their meeting on Friday.
The US President took a tougher tone against the dictator on Wednesday saying he was yet to be convinced he would be able to persuade Putin to stop killing civilians.
European leaders also said Trump had agreed to make an immediate ceasefire at the start of negotiations a priority – something that will be painful for Moscow which is gaining territory by the day.
US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said Trump had vowed that they would ‘bring peace to Europe’ in a speech at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
European leaders have been rattled by the possibility of Trump and Putin striking a deal without their input
JD Vance on Wednesday said the US President had vowed that they would ‘bring peace to Europe’ in a speech at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
French President Emmanuel Macron (left) speaks by video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left, onscreen) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (right) on Wednesday. The leaders also had a joint call with President Donald Trump
He channelled the spirit of how America and Britain had brought peace by victory in World War Two after spending the week with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent.
Describing what he and Lammy had discussed, the Vice President said: ‘What we did is we worked on one of our most important shared security goals in Europe, which is the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
‘The President of the United States came in six months ago, and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage, and he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again.’
It marked a successful day of European diplomacy after Trump’s deeply concerning press conference on Monday where he appeared to blame Zelensky for the war and take a softer stance against Putin.
