British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday called for increased deliveries of heavy weapons and aircraft to Ukraine, stressing that the time is for “courage” in the face of Russia.
In a speech Wednesday evening at the official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the head of British diplomacy also stressed that China must “play by the rules” and that “the aggressors are watching what happened in Ukraine”. “We have to make sure they get the right message,” she said.
Calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “a desperate rogue operator, who has no interest in international mores”, the head of British diplomacy called for “redouble our support for Ukraine”, in the grip of fierce fighting since the Russian invasion of February 24.
“Heavy weapons, tanks, planes – dig into our stocks, ramp up production, we have to do all of that,” she insisted.
But according to Downing Street, the UK does not plan to supply planes to Ukraine due to “specific difficulties” with equipment and training, but does not rule out “anything”, including supplying them to other countries which would supply it to kyiv.
“The world should have done more to deter the invasion,” she continued. “We will never make that mistake again.”
“Some argue that we should not provide heavy weapons for fear of causing something worse,” she added. “Inaction would be the greatest of provocations, the time is for courage, not for prudence”.
“The war in Ukraine is our war – it’s everyone’s war… because Ukraine’s victory is a strategic imperative for all of us.”
As for economic sanctions, “we must go further,” said Liz Truss. “Putin must not find anywhere to finance his terrible war. This means stopping oil and gas imports once and for all.”
She also underlined the UK’s determination to work “with the US, the EU and other allies on a new Marschall plan for the country” (Ukraine) when the time comes for reconstruction.
“We need to anticipate threats in the Indo-Pacific, work with allies like Japan or Australia to make sure the Pacific is protected,” she continued. “We have to make sure that democracies like Taiwan are able to defend themselves.”
She further underlined that “Beijing has not condemned Russian aggression or its war crimes”, and that “Russian exports to China increased by almost a third in the first quarter”.