UK tanks pledge as PM fears year-long war
BRITAIN is planning to send tanks to help Ukraine fight Russian invaders, Boris Johnson revealed yesterday.
The Prime Minister said the Government could “backfill” gaps left in Poland, which is supplying armoured vehicles to its embattled neighbour.
Mr Johnson also announced that the UK’s embassy in Kyiv is to reopen now Russian troops have pulled back from the outskirts of the city.
But he admitted the war could go on into next year because of Vladimir Putin’s fear of losing face.
Speaking at a news conference at the end of his two-day visit to India, the PM said ministers were studying fresh options for supporting Ukraine.
He said: “We’re looking more at what we can do to backfill in countries such as Poland, who may want to send heavier weaponry to help defend the Ukrainians.
Fortitude
“We’re looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they send some of their T-72s to Ukraine.”
Any tanks sent out by the Government would likely be Challengers. Poland is in the process of supplying Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine.
Announcing the embassy reopening, Mr Johnson said: “The extraordinary fortitude and success of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in resisting Russian forces in Kyiv means that I can today announce that shortly, next week, we will reopen our embassy in Ukraine’s capital city.
“I want to pay tribute to those British diplomats who remained elsewhere in the region throughout this period.
“The United Kingdom and our allies will not watch passively as Putin carries on this onslaught.”
Asked about intelligence reports warning the war could drag on into next year, he said: “The sad thing is that is a realistic possibility. Putin has a huge army, he has a very difficult political position because he has made a catastrophic blunder.
“The only option he really now has is to continually try to use his appalling, grinding approach, led by artillery, trying to grind the Ukrainians down. He’s very close to securing Mariupol now.
“The situation is, I’m afraid, unpredictable at this stage and we have just got to be realistic about that.
“But what we have also seen is the incredible heroism of the Ukrainians and their willingness to fight.
“No matter what military superiority Vladimir Putin may be able to bring in the next few months – and I
agree it could be a long period – he will not be able to conquer the spirit of the Ukrainian people.
“What he is doing every day is strengthening and reinforcing that will to resist in the people of Ukraine.
“What we supporters of the Ukrainian people need to think about is what further steps we can do to support them militarily.”
Mr Johnson discussed the Ukraine crisis with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi yesterday.
Details have also emerged of a planned weapons deal in which Slovenia will supply Ukraine with battle tanks in exchange for new armoured vehicles being paid for by Germany.
Under the proposed exchange, Slovenia will provide Ukraine with 30 to 40 T-72 Soviet-made tanks from its military stocks. Meanwhile, Putin was seen gripping a table and slouching during a televised meeting with his defence minister amid rumours he is battling cancer.
In a rare live appearance on Thursday, Putin claimed Russia had “liberated” the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
He ordered defence minister Sergei Shoigu to seal off all routes out of the
Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where defiant Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are holed up, “so that even a fly cannot pass through”.
But Putin’s poor posture and behaviour, and his apparently bloated face and neck, sparked frenzied speculation about the Russian leader’s health, which has reportedly been in decline since his invasion of Ukraine began.