The West must be prepared for “long distances” in the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Liz Trus will warn as she calls on allies to increase defense spending and supplies to Kyiv.
Ms Trus will use a speech in London on Wednesday to urge her allies to keep up the pressure on Vladimir Putin’s regime as Ukraine’s fate “remains in balance”.
She will also argue that Ukraine must be a “catalyst” for a change in the way the free world deters aggressors, adding: “Geopolitics is back.”
Russia says it wants to reduce the “significant” risk of nuclear war – Ukraine live news
The foreign minister is expected to say that the West cannot be happy with Ukraine, because if Putin succeeds, “there will be indescribable additional misfortunes in Europe and terrible consequences around the world.”
“We will never feel safe again. So we need to be prepared for the long road and redouble our support for Ukraine, “she added.
That support must include heavy weapons, tanks, planes and additional sanctions, so Putin has nowhere to go to fund this horrific war.
“This includes stopping oil and gas imports once and for all,” she said.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned that weapons supplied by Western countries “would be a legitimate target” and that NATO was effectively “going to war with Russia through proxies.”
Image: Foreign Minister Liz Truss and Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured at NATO Headquarters on March 24. Image: AP
But Ms. Trus will say that the way global security works “Ukraine has failed” and while praising the West’s response to the invasion, she will add that it must “follow” to ensure that the aggressors fail and are “detained” in the future.
Her proposal for a “new approach” will include stronger protection based on collective investment to correct “the generation of underinvestment, with 2% of GDP on the floor, not on the ceiling”.
Only eight NATO members – including the United Kingdom – out of 30 have achieved the alliance’s goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense in 2021.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
47:32 Ukraine war: Putin’s next move
Read more: Those who remained in Kharkov live in the shadows
The Foreign Minister will insist that NATO’s open door policy must continue, but it must have a more “global” perspective, including enhanced relations with partners in the Pacific.
She will also argue that economic security must be strengthened in order to reduce economic dependence on aggressors and create stronger trade, investment, scientific and technological ties between allies.
There will also have to be a stronger network of alliances, she said, as she called on the G7 industrialized nations to play a stronger role in other conflicts, as it did in Ukraine.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:35 Sky journalists flee shelling
The new approach
Ms Trus will say: “Our new approach will be based on three areas: military power, economic security and deeper global alliances.
“I want to live in a world where free nations are strong and on the rise, where freedom and democracy are strengthened through a network of economic and security partnerships, where aggressors are restrained and moving in a better direction.
“This is the long-term reward: a new era of peace, security and prosperity.”
Follow the daily podcast of Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lamy said: “Liz Truss’s speech seems to be a recognition of failure after more than a decade of decline.
“The Conservatives have wrongly removed European security in the Integrated Review, made deep cuts to the British military for many years, abandoned soft power by cutting back on development and damaged alliances with Europe and the United States, including risking peace in Northern Ireland. “
Add Comment