By Ben Kerrigan-
British troops must be prepared to “fight and win” to stop the spread of war in Europe, the new head of the army has warned.
General Sir Patrick Sanders,(pictured) chief of the general staff, said Russia is likely to emerge from the war in Ukraine as an even greater threat to European security amid calls for a big increase in UK defence spending.
His warning comes following the killing of 28 civilians in Russian attacks on Monday, including a missile strike on a crowded shopping centre.
Ukraine has been calling for the supply of more weapons from the West right from the very start of the invasion, and Europe and the US have spent a fortune in supplying Ukraine with weapons and military styled jets, but stopped short of sparking calling a no fly zone to prevent World War III, or nuclear conflict.
Gen Sanders will address a conference organised by the Royal United Services Institute think tank alongside defence secretary Ben Wallace, who is expected to call for increased spending.
In his first public speech since taking up the role, the general will say: ‘In all my years in uniform, I haven’t known such a clear threat to the principles of sovereignty and democracy, and the freedom to live without fear of violence, as the brutal aggression of president Putin and his expansionist ambitions.
Speaking to a Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conference in London, Sir Patrick said it was “dangerous” to assume that Ukraine was a “limited conflict”.
He said: “We don’t know how the war in Ukraine will end but in most scenarios Russia will be an even greater threat to European security after Ukraine than it was before.
“The Russian invasion has reminded us of that time-honoured maxim that if you want to avert conflict you had better be prepared to fight.”
This is our 1937 moment. We are not at war but must act rapidly so that we aren’t drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion.
‘I will do everything in my power to ensure that the British Army plays its part in averting war.’
He vowed to call for more combat readiness to act as a deterrent to Kremlin ambitions and prevent a full-scale conflict.
Gen Sanders is critical of ministers in Whitehall who have called for a shift away from land forces to more modern capabilities in recent years, saying: ‘You can’t cyber your way across a river.’
He compared the current situation to the run up to the Second World War, arguing Britain is facing another “1937 moment” and must be ready to “act rapidly” to ensure it is not drawn into a full-scale conflict by failing to contain Russian expansionism.
His speech comes ahead of Defence secretary Ben Wallace’s planned speech at a conference on Tuesday to issue a fresh call for increased defence spending in the years ahead to counter the growing Russian threat.
Wallace has written to the Prime Minister calling for the defence budget to be lifted from two per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2028.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg Nato has announced plans to massively increase the number of its forces at high readiness from 40,000 to over 300,000 troops along the alliance’s eastern flank.
Stoltenberg said the increase followed a direct threat from Russia to European security.
Boris Johnson has made two surprise trips to visit Kyiv since the war began, and has been publicly praised by Zelenskyy for proving the UK’s “support for Ukraine is firm and resolute”.
The prime minister has strengthened his hopes for Ukraine to win the war completely in recent weeks, making it clear to allies that he does not want to push Ukraine into settling the conflict.
Johnson reportedly fears this could encourage Putin to take more drastic action to intimidate his other neighbouring nations in the future, and that other authoritarian regimes (including China) would be emboldened if Russia got away with its invasion.
He has also expressed concerns over the food and energy crisis that the war in Ukraine has created all over the world, by driving up the price for grains and fuel.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss also indicated that Britain was looking for a concrete resolution. She said this week there cannot be “some uneasy peace where Russia is still present in Ukraine” meaning the country should get all the land it has lost since 2014 back – including the peninsula of Crimea.
Zelenskyy has also asked for the West to help Ukraine resolve the war by the end of 2022.
However, western leaders, including Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, warned that the war could be drawn out for “years”.
Johnson also said earlier this month: “I am afraid that we need to steel ourselves for a long war.”