UK war games on Russia’s doorstep
SCORES of British troops started tank manoeuvres in Finland yesterday in response to Russian threats to invade the country.
The UK’s first armoured deployment to Finland came amid Kremlin warnings it could point nuclear missiles towards Helsinki if it goes ahead with plans to join Nato.
As fears grew that Russia’s military assault on Ukraine could spread to other nearby countries, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace visited Finland in a show of support and said he believes Moscow’s forces are facing ‘a rout’.
Speaking at the start of Exercise Arrow – involving more than 100 British troops and tanks in mock battles with Finnish, US, Latvian and Estonian units – Mr Wallace said: ‘The conflict could end in several ways. One is the [US in] Vietnam scenario where Russia’s troops are routed, their forces fold in on themselves, command breaks down and they experience a very heavy defeat.
‘Another option is more like the end of the Korean War where you have a frozen conflict with each side occupying territory in entrenched positions for several decades.
‘But [Vladimir] Putin has already lost – he can’t use his Air Force, his navy faces missile strikes in the Black Sea and his army is reduced to attacking in companies of up to 100 soldiers to take a hamlet or village, from which they promptly retreat to avoid being counter attacked.
‘Whatever the scenario it will be for Ukraine to decide what it wants and we will support its freedom of choice.’
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, however, set a high bar for such a settlement with the Kremlin yesterday when he insisted he wants to see Russia withdraw all its troops from the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
Mr Zelensky said: ‘Ukraine’s goals are to restore the entire territory through diplomacy. We will not go into a frozen conflict. I am against it.’
Mr Wallace added that British troops could resume training missions in Ukraine – which were suspended following the Russian invasion – but he did not say when this might happen. Ukrainian soldiers will also travel to the UK to debrief British personnel on ‘lessons learned’ from the conflict.
Finland’s defence minister Antti Kaikkonen said the country had increased security measures along its border with Russia. He added: ‘We have adjusted our readiness level as tensions have increased with Russia in recent months. ‘We are saddened and disappointed that we have war in the heart of Europe in 2022. Unfortunately Western diplomacy failed. ‘We trust our military forces, we are capable of raising an army of 280,000 troops and it would be a mistake for Russia to come here. ‘The appeal of joining Nato for us is the Article 5 protection.’ As part of its founding principles, Article 5 of Nato’s charter binds its constituent nations to go to the military aid of any other member if it is attacked. Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin said yesterday: ‘The key issue is to keep the [Nato] ratification process as short as possible... that would be the best security guarantee.’ Russia is furious about Finland and Sweden announcing plans to apply to join Nato and has threatened to put nuclear weapons in the Baltic region should the countries proceed down this path.
As if to prove a point and intimidate its neutral neighbour, a Russian army helicopter violated Finnish airspace yesterday, the second such incursion this year.
Mr Wallace said it was ‘inconceivable’ the UK would not support the Nordic countries, which have been threatened by Moscow.
Flanking his Finnish counterpart Mr Kaikkonen, he added: ‘Do I think if Finland didn’t join Nato Britain wouldn’t come along to help? No. Britain will always be here in the Nordics, to be part of you, to help you, to support you.
‘It is inconceivable that Britain would not come to the support of Finland, or Sweden, if it was ever attacked, without any big formal agreement. We are European countries who share the same values, who have deep, long histories.
‘A significant number of the British population seem to be descended from Vikings anyhow, so we have that cultural link.
‘I cannot conceive a time when we wouldn’t come to support Finland and Sweden, no matter where they were with the Nato debate or where they are with agreements.’