Keir Starmer says UK should ‘break open’ shell companies that are ‘supporting Putin’
Britain remains on guard against a possible Russian attack on its troops and is bracing itself for cyberstrikes, a defence minister has said.
Baroness Goldie told peers there was “no indication at present” that Russia intended to directly target British or Nato forces, but she said the UK stood ready to protect itself against any threats, conventional or in cyberspace, she said.
Around 900 UK troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, and an extra battlegroup of 850 troops has also begun deploying to Estonia over the past week. Lady Goldie said 1,000 troops were on standby to deal with the exodus of people from Ukraine.
Addressing a Lords debate on the Ukraine crisis, the minister said: “We stand ready to protect our country against any threats, whether conventional or in cyberspace.
“However, I’m afraid there’s no disguising the fact that a dark new chapter has opened in our history.”
JEF leaders call for more sanctions on Putin’s ‘inner circle’
Prime minister Boris Johnson today told leaders more support must be given to Ukraine “as a matter of the greatest urgency”.
Mr Johnson told members of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) that the “western world must keep the flame of freedom burning in Ukraine as Russian forces inflict horror on an innocent country and its people”.
He agreed with the the leaders of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Latvia that more sanctions are needed to hit Russia, including targeting Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
A No 10 spokesman said: “He reiterated that this was a defining moment in European history, with global implications. The prime minister said he believed the Ukrainian people would continue to fight and had done so gallantly in the recent hours and days.
“The leaders agreed that more sanctions were needed, including focusing on President Putin’s inner circle, building on the measures that had already been agreed.”
Emily Atkinson25 February 2022 14:17
Lord West calls for spending boost to defence amid fears of more war in Europe
An ex-defence ministers has called for a spending boost to fills gaps in the UK military due to the prospect of more war in Europe.
Lord West said Britain must look at the prospect of spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence, explaining: “Generally, when there is a war and there’s an expectation that possibly there might be more war, there’s quite a focus on spending in the military.
“There’s almost been no talk from the government at all about enhancement of spending on the military.”
He continued: “There’s no doubt we have shortages of weapons stocks, weapons that have not been brought up to the right sort of state, there hasn’t been maintenance needed and required, and this is because we have steadily cut our defence forces over a number of years.”
Lord West said this has been noticed by Mr Putin and “other dictators”, adding: “He had built up an idea that in the West, in our country but more so in Europe, people were not willing to stand up for and, if necessary, actually fight for what they believed in.
“Putin was drawing that conclusion and you can’t blame him when you look at the dearth of spending on defence across the EU.”
Emily Atkinson25 February 2022 13:55
Priti Patel holds talks with Lithuanian counterpart over situation in Ukraine
Emily Atkinson25 February 2022 13:40
Johnson to host meeting with eastern European leaders
Boris Johnson will host the leaders of the V4 countries in London next month to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
No 10 said the Prime Minister would hold a meeting with the leaders of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on March 8 to “discuss the situation in Ukraine and the UK’s support for security in the region”.
Jane Dalton25 February 2022 13:13
‘Nothing off the table’ in supporting Ukraine, says No 10
Downing Street says “nothing is off the table” in support of Ukraine, and Boris Johnson is expected to raise the prospect of banning Russia from the Swift payment system with allies again today.
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “We remain firmly behind Ukraine and will continue to support them.”
Asked whether the UK would be pushing for the Swift sanction, he said: “You’ll have heard the Prime Minister’s comments in the House on this yesterday – we will continue to work with allies to try and cut Russia off from Swift.
“You’ll be aware that the PM raised this in his call with G7 leaders yesterday, I expect he will raise it at the Nato leaders meeting again today.”
The spokesman said he could not go into detail over the support being provided but the UK had “talked about protective equipment, helmets, body armour, as well as some of the defensive lethal aid that we’ve provided in terms of anti-tank weaponry”.
The UK government was working “incredibly closely” with Ukraine’s neighbours to support those fleeing the country, he said.
Jane Dalton25 February 2022 13:10
Sport secretary hails Uefa and F1 pullouts
The culture and sport secretary has welcomed decisions by both Uefa and Formula One to drop events due to be staged in Russia.
F1 said it was impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in September, and football chiefs switched the Champions League final, due to be held in May, from St Petersburg to Paris.
Nadine Dorries wrote: “Russia must not be allowed to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise its unprovoked, premeditated and needless attack against a sovereign democratic state.”
Jane Dalton25 February 2022 13:03
Minister praises Russian protesters
Armed forces minister James Heappey has paid tribute to protesters in Russian cities demonstrating in open defiance of Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
“President Putin and the kleptocrats that surround him have miscalculated badly [and] young, Russian men and women are needlessly losing their lives,” he said. Ashley Cowburn reports:
Jane Dalton25 February 2022 12:47
UK bracing itself for cyberstrikes, says defence minister
Britain remains on guard against a possible Russian attack on its troops and is bracing itself for cyberstrikes, a defence minister has said.
Baroness Goldie told peers there was “no indication at present” that Russia intended to directly target British or Nato forces, but she said the UK stood ready to protect itself against any threats, conventional or in cyberspace, she said.
Around 900 UK troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, and an extra battlegroup of 850 troops has also begun deploying to Estonia over the past week. Lady Goldie said 1,000 troops were on standby to deal with the exodus of people from Ukraine.
Addressing a Lords debate on the Ukraine crisis, the minister said: “It goes without saying that our thoughts and prayers remain with the Ukrainian people, many of whom have family and friends in the UK, and will now find themselves under attack for no reason whatsoever…
“We stand ready to protect our country against any threats, whether conventional or in cyberspace.
“However, I’m afraid there’s no disguising the fact that a dark new chapter has opened in our history.”
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, a former Nato secretary-general, who has met Mr Putin nine times, said he wondered “what irrational thought process” had changed the Russian president into a “monster” who violated Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Jane Dalton25 February 2022 12:42
Vladimir Putin has ‘bitten off more than he can chew’ in Ukraine, says UK defence minister
Russian president Vladimir Putin has “bitten off more than he can chew” with the invasion of Ukraine, a British defence minister has said.
Armed Forces minister James Heappey suggested the Kremlin would be disappointed with the speed of its advance in Ukraine.
“We remind the Russian public that president Putin may well have bitten off more than he can chew,” he told MPs in the Commons on Friday.
Mr Heappey added: “We are pretty certain that in the Kremlin last night there will have been some urgent reflections on the speed of advance compared.”
Adam Forrest has the story:
Emily Atkinson25 February 2022 12:10
1,000 troops ‘on standby’ to support countries neighbouring Ukraine
Defence minister James Heappey today told the Commons that 1,000 UK troops are on standby to support Ukraine’s neighbours with refugee responses.
Labour MP for Pontypridd Alex Davies-Jones asked: “Will the 1,000 UK troops that he has placed on stand-by to help with the humanitarian crisis now be urgently deployed?”
Defence minister James Heappey replied: “Just to be very clear – because I think unless I am almost doing her a dis-service – I might have understood her question to be will the 1,000 troops go into Ukraine as they did into Kabul into the summer to facilitate the egress of Ukrainians.
“I am afraid she will be disappointed. That is just not something that could realistically be done. This is a highly kinetic combat situation and the probability of Nato troops being caught up in combat with Russian armed forces is far too high and would lead to huge escalation.
“The 1,000 troops that are on standby are there to support Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland with the expected humanitarian challenges that they will face as people make their way out of Ukraine.”
Emily Atkinson25 February 2022 12:03