Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin and US’s teams meet for Saudi Arabia peace talks

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

UK defence secretary John Healey has announced an end to major Tory defence reforms, saying they produced “produced too much duplication, too much waste”.

Lord Levene’s 2011 Defence Reform report made 53 recommendations on how to transform the Ministry of Defence (MoD) into a leaner and more effective organisation that could better support the needs of the Armed Forces.

But Mr Healey said “many recent failings” in the MoD can be “traced back to the conservative defence reforms known as the Levene Reforms, introduced in 2012.”

“They produced too much duplication, too much waste. A system where only two out of 49 major defence projects are now on time and on budget”, he said, announcing an end to the reforms.

He said the department will reduce the number of budget holders to four from 10, and will introduce three new “centrally determined financial budgets” – readiness, operations and investment.

These reforms “represent the biggest shake up of UK defence for over 50 years”, the defence secretary said, arguing they will help cut waste and reduce duplication, as well as ensuring that Britain is “buying better what our front line forces need”.

The UK’s defence secretary has urged that Britain must rearm itself, as he touted his vision for “a new FTSE100 company within” the Ministry of Defence aimed at “building and sustaining our national arsenal”.

“Our new national armaments director will fundamentally change how defence works to partner with industry, and how defence becomes the engine for driving economic growth.

“So sitting alongside the permanent secretary and chief of defence staff, they’ll execute a £20bn-plus budget to build and sustain our national arsenal.

“Because at this time we must rearm Britain. And I see this as a new FTSE100 company within the MoD, tasked if you like with getting the very best capabilities needed into the hands of our frontline forces – delivering on our defence industrial strategy to create more defence jobs, more defence apprenticeships in every region and nation across the UK.”

They will save the taxpayer at least £10bn over the next decade, which will be reinvested directly into Britain’s defence, Mr Healey claimed.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

Investment in defence will be matched by reform of the sector, John Healey has announced, announcing a new command structure in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The defence secretary announced plans for four senior leadership roles in the department, which will act as “clear points of accountability at every level within UK defence”.

Giving a speech at the Institute of Directors, Mr Healey said: “I’m here to declare that investment in defence will be matched by reform.”

“They’ll shift the approach as an organisation which too often has been obsessed with process to one focused on outcomes in which information flows quickly, accountabilities are clear and results are demanded. And this new quad will be up and running from the 31st of March.”

Britain is “simply not securing the value for money that our armed forces” need, the UK’s defence secretary has warned.

Speaking at an Institute for Government event, John Healey said: “When everyone agrees that defence spending needs to increase, it’s not just how much you spend, but it’s how well you spend it. And we’re simply not securing the value for money that our armed forces and our economy needs for every defence pound.

“We duplicate even the most central tasks. For example, we have 11 separate finance functions –2,500 people doing the same activity in different places, in different ways.”

The UK’s defence secretary has insisted that the new Labour government is delivering on bringing the change promised ahead of the general election.

“In the middle of everything else last week, the new defence secretary Pete Hegseth from the US and I made time to discuss the aims we share on defence reform.

“Our new government was elected on a mandate in one word: change. We govern on an instruction in one word: delivery. And as a new government we’re delivering for defence over this first seven months.

“We’ve stepped up and speeded up support for Ukraine. We’ve increased defence spending this year by nearly £3bn and will set a path to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP in the spring. We’ve launched a new defence-industrial strategy, we’ve secured a deal to buy back 36,000 military homes to improve conditions for personnel.

“We’ve given the men and women of our armed forces the biggest pay increase in 20 years. We signed the landmark Trinity House agreement with Germany, and we’ve already progressed the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill through the Commons to give a strong independent voice to improve service life.

“We have within the MoD two major change programmes – both launched within the first month of government. One – the strategic defence review. Two – our defence reform programme. Each is essential for the other.”

Britain’s defence secretary has warned that the coming weeks will determine not only the outcome of the Ukraine war but “the security of our world for a generation to come”.

John Healey told an Institute for Government event: “The pace of the geopolitical change … that we’re seeing right now confirms what I would argue is the need for change within defence.”

He added: “The decisions that we make right now over the coming weeks will not only define the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, but the security of our world for a generation to come.

“And the nature of government means dealing with these challenges. But in my view, the test of political leadership isn’t just about managing the immediate, it’s also about reforming for the future.

“We’re in a new of threat, and that demands a new era for defence.”

Britain’s defence secretary John Healey has arrived at an Institute for Government event in which he will discuss efforts to reform the UK’s armed forces in the face of a rapidly shifting Western security landscape.

We’ll be bringing you live updates from the event, which is due to start imminently.

Many readers shared concerns that Trump’s plan is too simplistic, with several warning that leaving Kyiv out of the talks and pushing Nato aside could weaken Ukraine and encourage Putin to take more land.

They argued that Trump’s approach focuses on quick deals instead of long-term peace and could hurt international support for Ukraine.

Some also criticised Trump for putting his own goals above global security. They stressed that any peace deal should protect Ukraine’s independence and Europe’s safety.

Read the full debate and get involved in the conversation here.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has reached a sudden critical stage this week as talks begin between political leaders across the globe to decide on the future of the conflict.

My colleague Albert Toth has this rundown of what to expect from the various talks being held on Ukraine’s future:

The meeting of the delegation led by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov marks the first direct contact between Moscow and Washington officials since prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Rubio’s officials have sought to describe the meeting today as an initial step to establish whether Russia may be serious about engaging in talks to end the war, while stressing that no decisions on Ukraine’s future would be taken without Kyiv’s involvement – as Ukraine is shut out of Tuesday’s talks.

However, the Kremlin has appeared to go further, describing the talks as being aimed at normalising US-Russian relations, in a signal that it may hope for Mr Trump’s administration to ease some of the pressure levied against Moscow in response to Ukraine’s war.

Moscow has also said that the talks could pave the way for a face-to-face meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin “very soon”, after US president shocked his Western allies with a surprise three-hour phone call with Mr Putin in which he appeared to discuss handing major concessions to the Russian president over Ukraine.

While Mr Rubio has previously suggested that Ukraine must concede territory to Russia as part of a negotiated settlement, US national security adviser Michael Waltz – who is also part of the delegation – has recently stressed that Moscow must not be able to claim a victory in Ukraine.

In a piece for The Economist in November, Mr Waltz suggested that Washington could either offer to ease sanctions on Moscow in order to bring Mr Putin to the table – or else threaten increased economic pressure and military assistance to Kyiv.