London will propose to NATO a reinforcement of soldiers, warships and combat aircraft while the threat of a Russian attack on Ukraine remains very present.
Le Monde with AFP
It’s Boris Johnson’s answer to what he calls “Russian hostility”. Great Britain will offer NATO a “major” deployment of troops, warships and combat aircraft in Europe, said Saturday, January 29, the British Prime Minister.
This proposal, which should be done at a meeting of NATO military leaders next week, could see London double the British quota of some 1,150 soldiers currently deployed in Eastern Europe and provide ” Defensive weapons “in Estonia, according to the services of the Prime Minister.
“This set of measures would send a clear message to the Kremlin – we will not tolerate their destabilization activity, and we will always be alongside our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility,” he declared in a statement released on Saturday night. “I gave the order to our armed forces to prepare to deploy troops in Europe next week, so as to be able to provide terrestrial, air and naval support to our NATO allies”, Stressed Boris Johnson.
“A tragedy for Europe”
The relations between Russia and the West have reached their lowest point since the Cold War. Russia has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers at the frontiers of Ukraine, making a fear of an invasion. If the Russian government denies any project in this direction, it insists on written guarantees for the safety of Russia, including the promise that Ukraine will not enter NATO.
If the Russian President Vladimir Putin had to choose the way “from the bloodshed and destruction” in Ukraine, “it would be a tragedy for all Europe,” says Boris Johnson. “Ukraine must remain free to choose its own future,” adds the Prime Minister.
The proposed deployment will strengthen NATO defenses and “realize the support of the United Kingdom to its Nordic and Baltic partners”, according to the services of the Prime Minister.
Refer Putin.
Some 900 British soldiers are already deployed in Estonia and a hundred are in Ukraine, as part of a training mission that began in 2015. Some 150 soldiers of a light armor unit are currently in Poland. The HMS Prince of Wales aircraft holder, which is in the Arctic region, at the head of a NATO rapid intervention maritime detachment, is alerted, “in the event that the tension would continue to rise” , said Downing Street.
Boris Johnson, who has been experiencing intense political pressure after a series of scandals, linked to from Downing Street during the confines, said Friday, that he was going to call in the coming days Vladimir Putin for the ‘Exhort to “retreat” and engage more in the diplomatic channel about Ukraine. The Head of the British Government must also make a trip to the region in the coming days.