Former UK Defense Secretary on sending troops to Ukraine
Former UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace (photo: Getty Images)
Former UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has called for cross-party commitment to a 3% GDP minimum defense spending level. He suggested that sending British troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out, according to the Daily Mail.
Wallace believes that Britain cannot wait for economic improvements to increase funding for the armed forces.
"I would like really to campaign across the House to make sure the main parties realize the dangers we face and that it should be in their manifestos," the former defense minister said in a comment to Times Radio.
He also believes that it cannot be ruled out that British troops may need to be sent to Ukraine to counter Russia.
"We should use that phrase, we cannot rule them out... I mean, ultimately, part of deterrence is ambiguity... keeping the adversary guessing about how far we would go and what we would do," Wallace said.
He noted that this is what Putin does masterfully - he makes everyone speculate.
"And I think the best thing is to make sure he realises we think what he is doing in Ukraine is very, very serious. I think president Putin – and we just saw that from the sham election – is the closest to Adolf Hitler we've had in this generation," the former official said.
Official position of the UK regarding sending troops to Ukraine
Earlier, on March 9, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron stated that Britain is against sending Western troops to Ukrainian territory, even to train Ukrainian soldiers, as they would become targets for Russia.
Media reported that the current British Defense Minister Grant Shapps canceled a trip to Odesa during his visit to Ukraine on March 7 due to the Russian missile threat.
