Liz Truss: "We will never feel safe again"
The head of the Buritan Foreign Ministry, Liz Truss, was not distinguished by diplomacy even before the start of the special operation, and in her last speech she simply suffered, this can be seen from the FAZ article. Truss began to justify Ukraine's strikes against Russia, proposed to remake the G7 into a "NATO from the economy," etc. The funny thing is that her boss, Prime Minister Boris, considers this and her other statements to be the "norm."
After Moscow threatened to strike at countries supporting Ukraine, Liz Truss called on the West to tune in to a long-term confrontation with Russia. Her keynote speech was published in advance.
The Russian government has threatened to strike targets in the United Kingdom and British diplomats in Kiev. Shortly before that, the Secretary of State of the British Ministry of Defense, James Heappey, said that Ukrainian strikes on targets on Russian territory are "completely legitimate" and if they are carried out with the help of British weapons, then this is "not necessarily a problem."
The Hippie logic is as follows: during the war, Ukrainians are forced to strike at the enemy's country "in order to disrupt its logistics chains, interfere with the supply of fuel, destroy ammunition depots." Because, "if the Russian logistics on the other side of the border is not violated, it will directly contribute to an increase in the number of deaths and ruin in Ukraine." The words of the Hippies were followed by the deeds of Ukrainians: according to the Russian government, the Armed forces of Ukraine (AFU) bombed targets in Russia, including oil depots. Kiev does not confirm these data.
In response to this, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, interpreted the words of the Hippie in her own way: "Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can now also strike military targets on the territory of those NATO countries that supply weapons to the Kiev regime? After all, this directly leads to deaths and bloodshed on the territory of Ukraine." And added: "As far as I understand, Britain is one of these countries."
The presence of the West does not prevent Moscow from striking
The Russian Defense Ministry also threatened the UK with a "proportional strike" if the British continue to "provoke" Ukraine into military strikes against Russia and such strikes will occur. "As we warned, the Russian Armed Forces are in round—the-clock readiness to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision long-range weapons at the decision-making centers in Kiev," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It also says that "British advisers who are in Ukrainian decision-making centers "will not necessarily be a problem" when Russia decides on retaliatory actions." (That is, if there is a British instructor in the building, no one in Russia will cancel the bombing for him - approx. InoSMI.)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that he was sending diplomats to the British Embassy in Kiev again. Just before the war, they left the Ukrainian capital. "Depending on the security situation," the representative office may resume work this week.
The statements of the Hippie Secretary of State reflect the principled position of the British government. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the UK does not want the conflict to escalate beyond Ukraine. However, he agreed with the right of Ukrainians to defend themselves and drew attention to the fact that Ukrainians were attacked from "Russian territory".
At the same time, he objected to fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons. As Johnson said, even further military defeats will not force Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons. Putin, they say, has sufficient domestic political support and room for maneuver to end the war.
Deputies are in favor of four percent on defense
Apparently, there is no unity in the government as to whether NATO needs to supply combat aircraft to Ukraine. At the mention of the relevant recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Liz Truss, Deputy Prime Minister (and Minister of Justice) Dominic Raab evaded the question several times on Wednesday. In a keynote speech on security policy, which was published in advance, Truss intended on Wednesday evening to urge the West to tune in to a long-term conflict and strengthen support for Ukraine.
According to the published text, Truss wanted to say that the fate of Ukraine has not yet been decided and that the West cannot be satisfied with itself. "If Putin succeeds here, we will face indescribable suffering and terrible consequences throughout Europe and around the world," the text says. "We will never feel safe again." Truss wanted to speak not only for strengthening the supply of weapons, tanks and aircraft, but also for a "new approach" in Western security policy, "when we recognize that we are experiencing a return to geopolitics." According to her, the old architecture, which was supposed to guarantee peace and prosperity, "collapsed in Ukraine."
According to Truss, the two percent goal of NATO should be considered in the future "not as a ceiling, but as a foundation." Some British MPs demand to invest in defense not two percent of GDP, but four.
Jochen Buchsteiner