British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has called on NATO allies to give Ukraine more support. The country should receive tanks, fighter jets and other heavy weapons for its fight against the Russian invaders, Truss said on Wednesday, adding: “Ukraine’s fate still hangs in the balance.” Now is the time for courage, not caution. The fear that Russia could escalate the situation is misplaced. “Inaction would be the greatest provocation,” she said.
Truss warned that if Russian leader Vladimir Putin succeeds in Ukraine, it will have terrible consequences worldwide. “We would never feel safe again,” she said. “So we have to have staying power and double our support for Ukraine.” Western countries should dig deep into their stockpiles of military equipment and increase their arms production.
Several NATO countries have supplied Ukraine with missiles and armored vehicles. So far, however, they have been hesitant about fighter jets, out of concern that this could drag NATO directly into the war.
Britain has so far provided Ukraine with military aid worth the equivalent of 546 million Swiss francs, including thousands of missiles. However, despite the Foreign Minister’s strong words, the government is not planning to deliver any combat aircraft. Government spokesman Max Blain did not want to rule out the possibility that countries like Poland could deliver their own combat aircraft to Ukraine and then receive aircraft from Great Britain as replacements. But there are no specific plans for this, he said.
Truss called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a wake-up call that showed international institutions were incapable of stopping Russia. The economic and security structures developed after World War II and then after the Cold War would not have helped Ukraine, but would have enabled rather than contained Russian aggression. Moscow could block effective measures in the UN Security Council and elsewhere.
In response, Truss called for military strength, economic security, and stronger alliances among “free nations” around the world. The goal agreed for NATO members to spend two percent of economic output on defense every year should be the bottom and not the ceiling. Truss also called for tougher economic sanctions. The West must “once and for all” stop imports of Russian oil and gas.