British troops to be sent to Ukraine as Cameron blasts Russia

BRITISH military personnel are to be deployed to Ukraine to provide advice and training to government forces.

Up to 75 UK servicemen will be based away from the areas of conflict in the east of the country, and will offer support with medical, intelligence, logistics and infantry training. There has been no decision to move to supplying lethal weaponry to the Kiev government.

The deployment next month was announced as Mr Cameron warned of “deeply damaging” consequences for the whole of Europe if the EU fails to stand up to Russian president Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

If he is not reined in, Mr Putin could target the Baltic states or Moldova next, creating instability which would have a “dreadful” impact on the UK economy, said the Prime Minister.

Addressing the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Cameron vowed that Britain would be “the strongest pole in the tent” arguing for tougher sanctions against Moscow if Russian-backed militias in eastern Ukraine fail to observe the ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk on February 12. It would be “miraculous” if the terms of the agreement were met in full, he said.

Further destabilisation should be met by sanctions which are “materially different” from the asset freezes and travel bans imposed so far, perhaps involving Russia’s exclusion from the Swift interna- tional banking payments system, said the Prime Minister. He also indicated he is ready to give the BBC more funding for news to counter “the deluge of Russian-paid and backed media spreading disinformation” in the region.

Foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France meeting in Paris failed to reach agreement over the withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides from the front line.

Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said there was progress on some “technical aspects” but no agreement on apportioning blame for the sporadic violence which has continued following the ceasefire deal, particularly around the strategic railway town of Debaltseve.

Setting out details of the new UK military mission, Mr Cameron told the liaison committee: “We are not at the stage of supplying lethal equipment. We have announced a whole series of non-lethal equipment, night-vision goggles, body armour, which we have already said that we will give to Ukraine.

“Over the course of the next month we are going to be deploying British service personnel to provide advice and a range of training, from tactical intelligence to logistics to medical care, which is something else they have asked for. We will also be developing an infantry training programme with Ukraine.”

Mr Cameron played down recent episodes where Russian bombers had been escorted off the British coast, telling MPs the UK was “more than capable of protecting our air space”