This is Boris Johnson’s response to what he calls “Russian hostility”. UK to offer North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) deployment ” major “ of troops, warships and combat aircraft in Europe, the British Prime Minister announced on Saturday 29 January.
The proposal, which is expected to be made at a meeting of NATO military chiefs next week, could see London double the British contingent of some 1,150 troops currently deployed in Eastern Europe and provide “defensive weapons” to Estonia, according to the Prime Minister’s office.
“This set of measures would send a clear message to the Kremlin: we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility.”he said in a statement released Saturday evening. “I have instructed our armed forces to prepare to deploy troops to Europe next week, so that we can provide land, air and naval support to our NATO allies”said Boris Johnson.
“A tragedy for Europe”
Relations between Russia and the West have reached their lowest point since the Cold War. Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine’s borders in recent months, raising fears of an invasion. While the Russian government denies any such plans, it insists on written guarantees for Russia’s security, including the promise that Ukraine will not join NATO.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin had to choose the way “of bloodshed and destruction” in Ukraine, “It would be a tragedy for all of Europe”says Boris Johnson. “Ukraine must remain free to choose its own future”adds the Prime Minister.
The planned deployment will strengthen NATO defenses and “delivering on UK support for its Nordic and Baltic partners”according to the office of the Prime Minister.
Roll back Putin
Some 900 British soldiers are already deployed in Estonia and around 100 are in Ukraine, as part of a training mission which began in 2015. Some 150 soldiers from a light armored unit are currently in Poland. The aircraft carrier Prince of Waleswho is in the Arctic region, at the head of a NATO rapid intervention maritime detachment, is on alert, “in the event that the tension continues to rise”said Downing Street.
Mr. Johnson, who has been under intense political pressure for several weeks because of a series of scandals linked to parties in Downing Street during the confinements, said on Friday that he would call Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge him to ” to move back “ and to engage more in the diplomatic channel on Ukraine. The head of the British government must also make a trip to the region in the coming days.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss and Defense Minister Ben Wallace are due to travel to Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in the coming days. “They will work to improve relations with President Putin and encourage a de-escalation”according to Downing Street.
British diplomacy must announce, on Monday, in Parliament a toughening of its sanctions regime, to allow the United Kingdom, accused of turning a blind eye to the influx of Russian funds on its soil, to target strategic and financial interests of Moscow .
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