Lord West: Nato must now spend more on defence
The Russian invasion must now encourage Nato countries to increase defence spending, according to one of Britain’s most experienced military figures.
Admiral Lord West, former First Sea Lord, urged Nato countries to “step up to the plate” on increasing defence spending as Western leaders prepared to discuss Russia’s invasion at an emergency meeting on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other Western leaders will meet at the summit to discuss further action. Calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a no-fly zone have been consistently rejected by Western leaders, who fear it would pitch forces directly against Russia, risking military escalation.
Lord West said that stance must hold firm but that Ukraine must be allowed to decide its own terms in any peace talks with Russia, adding: “Nato has to reinforce the message that it is very happy to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine. But with regard to the future of Ukraine, it has to be very clear that this really is up to the Ukrainians to decide what they’re willing to accept.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for Nato countries to say Ukraine should, for example, give up claims to Crimea. It’s got to be up to the Ukrainians to decide what they’re willing to negotiate and what concessions they’re willing to make.”
Lord West said Nato also had to “take all the necessary steps” to show it could defend member countries. He said: “That means endorsing the money that’s being spent on defence by countries like Germany and encouraging others to spend more on defence.
“As far as I’m aware, the UK hasn’t thought about recalling reservists to areas where there is a shortfall or bringing forward equipment in the procurement chain that is taking ages to deliver.
“I hope the Nato meeting will say, ‘ We all need to step up to the plate and spent the right sort of money for what’s required for our defence.’”
A leading source of friction between Russia and Ukraine has been moves to make Ukraine part of Nato, which commits members to protect each other if another is threatened.
President Zelensky last week appeared to give up on the idea of membership of Nato, in a speech seen as a signal to Moscow. Lord West said: “I think that is realpolitik from Zelensky, whom I’ve been very impressed by. I think one of the great errors we made in 2008 was when we talked about Georgia and Ukraine joining Nato.
“I stood up in the House of Lords and said that this was absolutely bonkers and all we were doing was prodding the bear with a stick.
“There’s no excuse for what Putin’s done but equally this pressure for them to become part of Nato was not very clever.”