Grant Shapps aborted a trip to southern Ukraine last week for “security reasons”, the UK defence ministry said.
The defence secretary had to scrap his visit to Odesa last week after UK intelligence reportedly warned Russia had become aware of his travel plans.
Mr Shapps was due to travel to Odesa a day after a missile hit the city whilethe Ukrainian president and the Greek prime ministerwere visiting.
Five people were killed in the strike, Ukrainian authorities said.
Mr Shapps had travelled on an overnight train from Poland to Ukraine, accompanied by chief of the defence staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, and a small team of British officials. The aim of their journey was to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and senior members of his wartime administration.
But having arrived in Kyiv on 7 March, Mr Shapps’s onward journey to Odesa was cancelled abruptly at the last minute, following fears surrounding his safety.
According tothe Sunday Times, which had a reporter travelling with his delegation, the trip was called off after an intelligence update revealed the Kremlin’s knowledge of it.