MOSCOW: Amid recent escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, the UK has warned that it is ready to send troops if Moscow attacks any eastern European NATO member state.
“If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight,” Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the British defense staff, told the House of Commons defense committee.
“I don’t think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight,” Politico in a report quoted British deputy chief of defence staff, as saying.
Deputy Chief of British Defence Staff Rob Magowan in his briefing to the House of Common assured lawmakers that the UK would respond immediately if called upon.
Concerns over rising Russian aggression are growing in Europe, fuelled by Moscow’s advances in eastern Ukraine.
Uncertainty about Europe’s readiness to defend itself has been compounded by Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly stated that the U.S. might not support allies that fail to meet NATO defence spending commitments.
US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the go-ahead to fire US made long-range missiles into Russian territory. At the same time, Washington will soon provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines to shore up its defences against Russian forces.
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On Tuesday, Putin signed a decree lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons, a move Western powers condemned as “irresponsible”.
In London, the British government spokesman said of the Russian strike: “It is another example of reckless behaviour from Russia, which only serves to strengthen our resolve in terms of standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said Russia’s use of the missile would “neither change the course of the conflict nor deter” the US-led defence alliance from backing Kyiv.
Despite the initial confusion about the nature of the missile fired, it is clear the strike on Dnipro was unusual and aimed at grabbing the attention of Kyiv and its allies.
In an address late Thursday, President Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia had used a new, experimental “hypersonic” medium-range ballistic missile named “Oreshnik” (“Hazel”) in an attack on Dnipro.
In what analysts said was intended as a warning to the countries arming Ukraine, the Russian leader hinted the missile was capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.
Analysts and the United States pushed back against Kyiv’s initial claims that Moscow had launched a nuclear-capable ICBM as part of a barrage towards the central city of Dnipro.Vladimir Putin warned that the Kremlin had the right to strike countries supplying Ukraine with weapons used to hit targets inside Russia
