[ad_1]
Britain and its allies are “very unlikely” to send troops to defend Ukraine, the UK’s defense secretary has said.
“We should not joke with people,” Ben Wallace told Spectator magazine. “Ukrainians are aware of this,” according to the BBC.
Russia has deployed thousands of troops near Ukraine’s eastern borders, prompting Western powers to urge President Vladimir Putin to reduce tensions.
Moscow has denied plans to attack and has called for urgent talks with the US.
On Friday, Russia demanded strict restrictions on the activities of the US-led NATO military alliance in Eastern European countries.
The alliance was originally created to defend Europe against possible threats from the former Soviet Union.
In an interview with Spectator “Ukraine was not a member of NATO, so it is very unlikely that anyone will send troops to Ukraine to challenge Russia,” Wallace said.
“This is why we are doing our best diplomacy to tell Putin not to do this,” he said, adding that “severe economic sanctions” were the most likely form of prevention.
Wallace has previously said that the United Kingdom stands “shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine” and remains determined to support them.
Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Putin of the “significant consequences” of any “destabilizing action” in the region.
Ukraine shares borders with the EU and Russia, but as a former Soviet republic it has deep social and cultural ties with Russia.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of provoking with its ambition to join NATO.
Heavy bombers and warships will not be allowed in areas outside their national airspace or waters from which they can launch an attack as part of proposals.
This would mean that NATO would play no role in any of the three Baltic republics or Poland, and would have to abandon any plans for Ukraine and Georgia to eventually join the Western alliance.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Saturday that the proposals were an attempt to avoid a possible military conflict.
He said Moscow was ready to hold talks with the United States in a bid “to turn a military or military-technical confrontation scenario into a political process that would really strengthen military security,” the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The US has said it is open to discussions, but that it will also put its concerns on the table.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said Friday that there would be no “European security talks without our European allies and partners.”
Russia has long resisted Ukraine’s move towards European institutions.
It invaded Georgia during a brief war in 2008 and invaded Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, before supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict in the east began in April 2014 and has claimed more than 14,000 lives.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
