British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves a television studio, during the Conservative Party's annual conference, in Manchester, Britain, October 1, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS)

To date, Britain and its allies have avoided a formal military presence in Ukraine to reduce the risk of a direct conflict with Russia. 

British defence minister Grant Shapps said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph newspaper that he wanted to deploy military instructors to Ukraine, in addition to training Ukrainian armed forces in Britain or other Western countries. 

But hours later, Sunak told reporters, “What the defence secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine. But that’s something for the long term, not the here and now.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday said any British soldiers training Ukrainian troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russian forces.