‘Putin will wage war on more countries’
VLADIMIR PUTIN will keep waging war on neighbouring countries if he is allowed to invade Ukraine, the British foreign secretary warned.
As the Russian president put on a huge show of military strength with nuclear drills involving ballistic missiles, submarines and tank convoys yesterday, Liz Truss issued a last-ditch plea for the international community to unite to face down Moscow’s aggression.
Ms Truss used an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday to argue that if Putin attacked Ukraine it would be a precursor to Russia using force to annex more former Soviet states. She said: ‘We need to stop Putin because he will not stop at Ukraine. He’s been very clear – his ambition doesn’t lead to him taking control of Ukraine, he wants to turn the clock back to the mid ’90s or before then. The Baltic States are at risk… the Western Balkans as well. Putin has said all this publicly, that he wants to create the Greater Russia, that he wants to
go back to the situation as it was before where Russia had control over huge swathes of eastern Europe. So it’s so important that we and our allies stand up to Putin.’
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Boris Johnson said the ‘omens are grim’ from Russia on the possibility of an invasion. Mr Johnson, who met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit, said, ‘If Ukraine is invaded and if it is overwhelmed, we will witness the destruction of a democratic state, a country that has been free for a generation’.