British soldiers from Duke of Lancaster's Regiment patrol through snow, to train for fighting in built up areas on the Tapa range in Estonia, where they are taking part in Exercise Winter Camp, which is part of Operation Cabrit, the UK's contribution to Nato's Forward Land Forces in Estonia and Poland. Picture date: Monday February 2, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
British soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment training in Estonia (Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

The UK is ‘on an inevitable collision course’ with Russia, whether Ukraine wins or loses, a top British Army official has said.

General Sir Roly Walker echoed warnings made by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the Kremlin is preparing for a larger war.

Ukraine will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion today, as the latest round of peace talks concluded with little progress.

Sir Roly wrote in the Daily Mail: ‘We, and the West generally, are in the crosshairs of Russia. It’s us on their terms or no deal.

‘This is not going away, however the war in Ukraine ends.’

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But striking a more optimistic tone amid near-constant fears of World War 3, Sir Roly said the UK will win and the future ‘will be on our terms’.

Firefighters work at the site of a residential building damaged during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 22, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Russia has continued to pound Ukraine as the latest round of peace talks came to an end (Picture: Reuters)

He added: ‘Unless something changes, I think we are on a collision course with a Russia that is on a war footing, that is replenishing its lost equipment and rearming itself to be a bigger and more lethal set of armed forces.

‘Russia started this war by invading Ukraine. It seems to me only they can decide to stop it. We need to continue helping Ukraine.

‘We can also signal to Putin that if he thinks it will be any easier to steal Nato territory, then he is even more stupid than we thought.

‘We will never give up what matters to us.’

British military officials have previously warned to Metro that the UK needs to prepare for a future conflict amid the growing threat from Russia.

Giving up territory that Russia has been unable to capture has long been a major sticking point for Kyiv’s efforts to end the war.

Addressing cabinet this morning, Sir Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin is ‘standing in the way’ of a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, adding that he promised to stand by Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’.

epa12770998 Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near the Kremlin Wall, during the national celebrations of the 'Defender of the Fatherland Day' in Moscow, Russia, 23 February 2026. Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated annually on 23 February in Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, marking the date in 1918 when the first mass draft into the Red Army took place in Moscow and Petrograd during the country's Civil War and war against the German Emperor. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV / POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago (Picture: EPA)

Yet surrendering land, including the industrial region of Donbas, where Ukraine has lost thousands of soldiers defending it, is among the terms of Donald Trump’s peace deal.

This would also include the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as Crimea.

Putting these under Russian rule would be a major win for Putin, given that his troops have seized just 1.5% of Ukraine since January 2024.

As much as Zelensky has remained steadfast in refusing to surrender land to Vladimir Putin, polls hint that war-fatigued Ukrainians feel otherwise.

A survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology released on Monday found that four in 10 Ukrainians would support handing Russia the Donbas if it would mean guaranteeing their safety.

epa12751276 A handout photo made available by the press service of the 93rd 'Kholodnyi Yar' Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces shows servicemen from the strike drone platoon at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 17 February 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/UKRAINE'S 93RD MECHANIZED BRIGADE PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
Ukraine has refused to back down on the issue of land (Picture: EPA)

The death toll of the Russia-Ukraine war will likely reach more than two million by the spring, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It said last month that nearly 1.2 million Russian troops and close to 600,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded or were missing.

Russia is now losing more soldiers than it can recruit, even as it pads out its units with troops from North Korea.

Analysts say that the Russian war playbook often involves simply overwhelming the enemy with sheer manpower.

Sir Keir Starmer will reportedly announce today more support for Ukraine, having given Kyiv powerful ballistic missiles, drones and battlefield tech.

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