Russia's a credible force set to do something imminently, defence minister warns
A Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any moment, a defence minister has warned.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey has described the massing of roughly 130,000 Russian troops along the Ukrainian border as a "credible force set to do something imminently". It comes after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace compared diplomatic efforts to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine to appeasement as he said it is "highly likely" Vladimir Putin will order an attack despite the concerted talks to avert war.
Ukraine crisis at 'critical juncture' as PM joins efforts to bring Russia 'back from the brink'
Russian invasion of Ukraine 'highly likely', Defence Secretary says
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Speaking to Forces News, Armed Forces Minister Mr Heappey alluded to the fact that a military audience would understand the signs of war preparation. He said: "The reality is that the force only becomes credible when those key enablers – logistics, the fuel, the medical supplies, the command and control, the signals, the bridging assets, all of that, is in place. "And it now is, alongside a huge array of advanced artillery and missiles systems and a very, very large combat air force. "A credible force, that is set to do something imminently, hence the urgency of the advice that we are giving."
The Ukraine crisis has reached a "critical juncture" and Russia could be planning to invade "at any moment", Downing Street has warned. Number 10 said the Prime Minister will join last-ditch diplomatic efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin "back from the brink" of war as the UK and other NATO allies have urged their citizens to flee Ukraine. For British nationals still in Ukraine, the Armed Forces Minister warned that there can be no Operation Pitting-style evacuation like in Afghanistan, reiterating his and the Government's message to "get out now". Mr Heappey said: "Even if we wanted to, the reality is that there would be highly contested complex air space above Ukraine in the event that hostilities were to break out. "And that would not, therefore, be an appropriate situation for UK or any other NATO aircraft to be trying fly into Kyiv or any other Ukraine city. "People should leave now, there are still commercial means to do so. Our advice to UK citizens in Ukraine is to leave now." He said there "may well be no opportunity to give any further warning".
Although the minister could not confirm that all the British service personnel involved in Operation Orbital - the UK mission to train Ukrainian forces - have left the country, he was clear that "all British Armed Forces will leave Ukraine" and he expects that will be "completed imminently". Mr Heappey repeated that a Russian invasion would be an own goal for President Putin, by increasing NATO's presence and that of US forces in Europe, rather than the withdrawal of NATO troops he desires. "I still think that there are opportunities for diplomacy to succeed and there are very necessary conversations that the West and Russia could and should have over the next few days," he said. "If this were to happen, people shouldn't think that this is a moment of immediate response, where straight away, tactical actions are required to offset what Russia may do. "We would be entering a new period of strategic long-term competition with Russia."
Mr Heappey continued: "President Putin needs to be clear on that, not only are the economic sanctions for going into Ukraine enormous, but so too will be the way that NATO as an alliance responds. "If his concern was that there was too much NATO on his borders, if he goes into Ukraine, there'll be much more. "If his concern was that there were sophisticated weapons systems in Europe from the United States, if he goes into Ukraine, there will be more. "This is the perfect thing for him to do if he wants to prompt European countries to spend more on defence and security. "If he wants the US to re-engage with the European theatre in a way that it hasn't arguably for a decade, Russia becomes a pariah, he fails to muscle in to being a world leader."
He added: "This has long-term profound strategic consequences for Russia and the men and women of our Armed Forces should expect to be playing a part in that competition, not just in the next few months but for next 10 to 20 years."
SOURCE: Forces Net