Putin may not stop at Ukraine, says Wallace
Defence Secretary warns Russian president: the world is watching, as Moscow targets Ukraine
Ben Wallace has accused Vladimir Putin of tsarist ambitions as he warned that the Russian leader’s designs on Europe may not stop at Ukraine. But the Defence Secretary said he feared Mr Putin may miscalculate a conflict with Kyiv and warned of “massive loss of life on all sides” if Russia invaded. Mr Wallace made his comments after high-stakes talks this week between Nato and Russia failed to find a solution to the Kremlin’s increasing threats towards Ukraine.
BEN WALLACE has accused Vladimir Putin of tsarist ambitions as he warned that the Russian leader’s designs on Europe may not stop at Ukraine.
But the Defence Secretary said he feared Mr Putin may miscalculate a conflict with Kyiv and warned of “massive loss of life on all sides” if Russia invaded.
Mr Wallace made his comments after high-stakes talks this week between Nato and Russia failed to find a solution to the Kremlin’s increasing threats towards Ukraine.
Citing a 5,000-word essay the Russian president wrote last summer entitled “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians”, Mr Wallace said he had been unable to “separate” himself from Mr Putin’s belief that “Ukraine really is Russian”. “I’m concerned that what this is really about is President Putin’s legacy, that is about a false vision, a Russia that even the tsars failed to create and consolidate – that is, the Russia of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
In a stark warning, Mr Wallace said that this “motto of the tsars for the Russian empire” had “far deeper consequences for the security of eastern Europe, because it doesn’t stop at Ukraine”.
‘The consequences for Russia invading a sovereign nation need to be taken seriously’
He likened Mr Putin’s further ambitions to “ethnonationalism”, cautioning that “in our history of Europe, ethnonationalism has led to some of the worst conflicts in the last millennium”.
Mr Wallace added that “the consequences for Russia invading a sovereign nation need to be taken seriously, because the world is watching, the Chinese are watching”. He said that if Mr Putin were to invade then any economic sanctions and consequences would be “severe” and “go way beyond the sanctions of 2014”, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
It is understood that potential economic sanctions that are on the table as punishment if Russia invades include trade restrictions, including restricting the right of Russian nationals to trade in the financial hubs of G7 countries.
It came as US intelligence officials said that Russia had sent a unit into eastern Ukraine to stage a “false-flag attack” that would give a pretext to invade. The troops would attack Russia’s own forces in the area, the official told CNN.
Ukrainian government websites also went down yesterday in a cyber-attack that officials said had the hallmarks of a Kremlin-backed operation.
Mr Wallace spoke to The Daily Telegraph as part of a whistle-stop tour of Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo this week in an attempt to show solidarity with such Nordic countries, which are all too aware of what an encroaching President Putin is capable of. Mr Wallace explained that the purpose of travelling to northern Europe was to offer reassurance from the UK that “we are here for you, we are next to you, we are in Europe”.
“Countries like Sweden and Finland are genuinely worried about the current behaviour of Russia and the consequences of an invasion of Ukraine,” he said. Mr Wallace added that it was important to stress to these countries that while the UK has left the European Union, “we have not left the security of Europe and that we both want to find a solution and de-escalate and to allow Russia to move forward in a way that their people can benefit from”.
After the Nato talks, which were held against a backdrop of a 100,000-strong buildup of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border, ended on Wednesday, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, warned of “a real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe”. Russia described the talks as having culminated in a “dead end”.
The Kremlin last month demanded that Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc nations including Finland and Sweden never be allowed to join Nato and that the alliance should withdraw its troops from eastern Europe. However, the bloc has rejected both proposals.
Mr Wallace said: “Freedom to choose is actually more important than what you choose,” as he cautioned that any conflict risked an unwelcome legacy for Mr Putin. He warned Mr Putin that “the world is watching” and that “the West won’t turn a blind eye to what he [Mr Putin] does”. He added: “Russia risks getting bogged down in a conflict that potentially will cost the lives of young Russian men and they should not underestimate the Ukrainian people’s desire to protect their sovereign states.”
Recently, Mr Wallace, 51, oversaw Operation Pitting, the UK’S effort to rescue 15,000 people from war-torn Afghanistan. In one interview during the rescue mission, he broke down in tears as he admitted that “some people will be left behind” following the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Today, it is this fear of people being killed if war breaks out between Russia and Ukraine that plays on his mind. “My biggest fear is that President Putin miscalculates and it leads to a massive loss of life on all sides of the country,” he said.
The concern of miscalculation is that Mr Putin “thinks either he could get away with this, or that he thinks the Ukrainians won’t fight, or that he thinks this somehow strengthens Russian security, rather than the fact [that] making more people anxious and therefore [making] more people taking security steps, that escalates”. Mr Wallace added that “as in 2014, any invasion would have the opposite of the desired effect”.
Previously, Mr Wallace has said it would be “highly unlikely” that the UK would send troops to defend Ukraine in the event of an invasion.
Reflecting on the question again, he said: “Nato members would be most likely to reinforce or deploy new forces. The UK would consider carefully all Nato requests in light of such actions by Russia.”
Asked if he had a message for Mr Putin, he said: “This is not the way to resolve your perceived fears. Massing forces on borders and threats will not fix the problem; potentially it could create more fear and more response by countries who need to protect.”