PM prepares defiant message for Putin ahead of meeting - 'We will stand by NATO'
In a move designed “to send a clear message” to President Putin ahead of a meeting between the two leaders this week, the Prime Minister confirmed the significant deployment of troops, gunships, missile systems and vessels to Estonia and Poland. Britain already has a permanent military force in the region as part of Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence. The new build-up will “send an important signal to Russia that the UK has real skin in the game”.
Russian battle groups – including between 130,000-150,000 troops – are massed on Ukraine’s border and intelligence has revealed that Putin has a “puppet government” ready to install after an invasion.
But Mr Johnson said: “This package will send a clear message to the Kremlin. We will not tolerate their destabilising activity and we will always stand with our Nato allies in the face of Russian hostility. If President Putin chooses a path of bloodshed and destruction, it will be a tragedy for Europe. Ukraine must be free to choose its own future. I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe, ensuring we are able to support our Nato allies on land, at sea and in the air.”
The Prime Minister is expected to relay that message in person during a meeting with the Russian premier this week. The proposed deployment will include 1,200 Paras who will deploy alongside US forces, Royal Marine mountain and arctic warfare specialists from 45 Commando, Gunners from 26 Regiment, Royal Artillery armed with long-range Deep Fire missile systems, Apache gunships from 4 Regiment, Army Air Corps, and electronic warfare and cyber units from the Royal Signals and the Royal Marines' specialist Y Squadron.
Also poised are drones from 47 Regiment Royal Artillery, medics and six Chinook troop-carrying helicopters. Elsewhere, an RAF Typhoon squadron will be sent to Cyprus, tasked with patrolling Romanian and Bulgarian air space, while a Type-45 destroyer and a patrol vessel will sail to the Black Sea.
Special Forces have already deployed to Ukraine in a defensive capacity – half the SAS squadron has been tasked with monitoring Russian activities in eastern Ukraine, while the other half is on hand to assist in the evacuation of British citizens from the country, should this come to pass.
The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, command ship of Nato’s French-led high readiness maritime group, is currently in the North Atlantic and may be moved to the Mediterranean if tensions mount further, to relieve the US carrier Harry S Truman.
With Nato air bases readily available, the carrier will probably host anti-submarine and troop-carrying Merlin helicopters, as well as helicopters and drones from other nations. The proposed deployments follow a series of meetings between Nato and European allies last week, including an online summit with the leaders of the US, Italy, Poland, France, Germany, the European Council, the European Commission and Nato.
These led to President Joe Biden putting 8,500 troops on alert to join a Nato force should hostilities break out, with the option of increasing that number to 50,000. The PM has also spoken to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
BORIS Johnson has ordered a massive military build-up in eastern Europe as he warns Vladimir Putin that Britain and her allies will not tolerate Russian threats.
www.express.co.uk
