Britain increases Ukraine backing
BIG PUSH: DENIES GOING TOO FAR UK seeks more military help, says Crimea must be free.
Britain denied yesterday it was overreaching against Russia after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said “the whole of Ukraine” must be liberated, indicating that Crimea must also be regained.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Truss’ remark, made in a high-profile speech, complied with the West’s longstanding stance since Russia seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
“We’ve constantly said that Russia should leave Ukraine sovereign territory, so that hasn’t changed,” Wallace told Sky News.
But when asked whether Britain would support Ukraine militarily for any offensive to recapture the peninsula, he said: “There’s a long way to go before Ukraine pushes into Crimea. We are supporting Ukraine’s sovereign integrity. That of course includes Crimea. But first and foremost, let’s get Russia out of where they are now in its invasion plans.”
Late on Wednesday, Truss said Britain was “doubling down” on its military support. “We will keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine,” she said, urging Western allies to increase tanks and planes to help Kyiv.
Wallace reiterated that any UK tanks and planes would not go directly to Ukraine but instead “backfill” Soviet-era supplies being sent by the likes of Poland.
He clarified that long-range Brimstone missiles being sent to Ukraine, which can be fired at sea, “will be used over the ground”, but that Britain was examining help with anti-ship missiles.
“It’s incredibly important that the grain that affects us all, the food prices, does get out of Ukraine, that the Russians can’t control the Black Sea,” he said.
Wallace also said that President Vladimir Putin was “rolling the pitch” for a major announcement to mark Russia’s World War II Victory Day celebration on 9 May.