Truss: Drive Russians out now or we’ll face five years of conf lict

MINISTERS fear the war in Ukraine could last five years or even longer.

Liz Truss last night warned Vladimir Putin must be completely driven out of Ukraine or else he will seek to invade more nations.

The Foreign Secretary said the Russian leader is a ‘desperate rogue operator’ who should not be rewarded for aggression.

Government officials are concerned Putin could attack Moldova or Georgia if he is allowed to keep hold of Ukrainian territory, dragging the conflict on for years.

In a major foreign policy speech, Miss Truss warned if he succeeds ‘there will be untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe’.

She said Britain and its allies must ‘keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine’. And in an indication that the battle could drag on, she said ‘we must be prepared for the long haul’.

Miss Truss is also making the case behind closed doors that Russia should not be given any Ukrainian territory in any peace talks. And she argued the crisis in Ukraine must be the catalyst for an overhaul to the West’s approach to international security.

She said the UK needed to strengthen its military and build alliances with free nations, using their economic power to deter aggressors. The G7 group of leading industrialised nations should act as an ‘economic Nato’, she added, while the Western military alliance must be prepared to open its doors to countries such as Finland and Sweden.

Speaking at Mansion House in the City of London, Miss Truss singled out China, which has refused to condemn the invasion while increasing imports from Russia. ‘China is not impervious. They will not continue to rise if they do not play by the rules,’ she said. ‘China needs trade with the G7.’

Miss Truss said the international architecture intended to guarantee peace and prosperity had failed Ukraine in the face of an attack by a ‘desperate rogue operator’, adding: ‘Russia is able to block any effective action in the UN Security Council. Putin sees his veto as a green light to barbarism.’