Britain will send ‘self-defence’ weapons to Ukraine military to deter Russian attack
BRITAIN will send defensive weapon systems to Ukraine for the first time to help deter a potential Russian attack, the Defence Secretary has announced.
Ben Wallace said he would also invite Sergei Shoigu, his Russian counterpart, to talks in London in an effort to defuse an escalating crisis that has seen Russia threaten to attack Ukraine unless Nato delivers on a series of security guarantees.
“We have taken the decision to supply Ukraine with light anti-armour defensive weapon systems,” Mr Wallace told Parliament yesterday evening. “They are not strategic weapons and pose no threat to Russia. They are to use in self-defence.”
The Daily Telegraph understands that the UK will send next-generation light anti-tank weapons. A small number of trainers will be sent to teach Ukrainian troops how to use the weapons. Britain already maintains a training mission, Operation Orbital, in the country.
Russia has deployed upwards of 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine in what Western officials say are preparations for a possible invasion.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has issued a series of demands, including a guarantee Ukraine will never join Nato, and warned of a “military technical” response if they are not met. The US has claimed intelligence shows the Russian plan may be to attack in January or February. It said last week that it believed Russian special forces were preparing to stage an incident to provide a pretext to attack.
Meanwhile, Russian troops arrived in Belarus yesterday before joint exercises, which Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, described as preparation for a possible confrontation with Nato and Ukraine.
The deployment will be seen as an attempt to put further pressure on Ukraine and the West to concede to Mr Putin’s demands. Military analysts have suggested Russia might use Belarus to open a northern front threatening Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the event of war. The “Allied Resolve” exercise will be held next month in western Belarus, near the borders of Poland and Lithuania, both Nato members, and in the south near the border with Ukraine, Mr Lukashenko said.
“These should be normal exercises to work out a certain plan for confronting these forces: the West, the Baltics and Poland, and the south - Ukraine,” he said in comments reported by state media.
Russian trains loaded with military vehicles were seen passing through Belarus in videos posted on social media yesterday. Belarus and Russia are formally linked in a “union state” and their armed forces frequently exercise together. In September Russian paratroopers conducted a jump in Belarus in what was widely seen as a show of support for Minsk during a standoff with Poland over a migration crisis.
Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, said reports that Estonia was readying to host 5,000 Nato troops showed Russia was right to be concerned. “It proves we’re not the reason for escalating tensions,” he said. He declined to rule out the option of deploying missiles in Cuba or Venezuela if the West does not deliver on Moscow’s demands.
Mr Wallace made the announcement after Germany’s foreign minister rejected Ukrainian requests for weapons. Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, in Kyiv that Berlin “will do our all to guarantee Ukraine’s security” but would not supply arms for historic reasons.