Britain will send 350 more troops to Poland amid growing fear Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen ‘any day’
BRITAIN will send an extra 350 troops to Poland as fears grow Russia is set to invade neighbouring Ukraine within days. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the fresh deployment, which will double the number of UK soldiers in the country . They will join 100 personnel from the Royal Engineers and 150 from the dragoons […]
BRITAIN will send an extra 350 troops to Poland as fears grow Russia is set to invade neighbouring Ukraine within days.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the fresh deployment, which will double the number of UK soldiers in the country .
They will join 100 personnel from the Royal Engineers and 150 from the dragoons who are already stationed there.
The new troops will carry out exercises with Polish colleagues to “build their resilience” amid the growing threat from Moscow.
Mr Wallace made the announcement at a press conference in London alongside Warsaw’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
He said the deployment will show “we can work together and send a strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side”.
Mr Blaszczak said the Polish government was “very grateful” for the move which will help deter Russian aggression.
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He added: “Based on historical experience we see that only a decisive deterrence policy can stop any potential Russian aggression.
“And based on the very same history, we do see that the policy of appeasement only encourages the potential enemy to do something.”
Poland is facing a twin threat from escalating Kremlin aggression.
An invasion of Ukraine would put hundreds of thousands of Russian troops on its doorstep and spark a refugee crisis at the border.
Moscow is also threatening Warsaw via its puppet state Belarus, which is weaponising migration to undermine the EU.
Germany today announced that it’s sending an extra 350 troops to Lithuania to bolster NATO forces there.
The US is also deploying an extra 2,000 soldiers to Europe due to growing alarm over Russian aggression.
FRANCE FEARS
But there are fears that Emmanuel Macron will undermine efforts to send a strong message to Vladimir Putin.
The French President is in Moscow for talks with the Russian leader and has suggested the West will need to compromise.
Yesterday he gave an interview which infuriated Eastern European countries and sparked jitters in Washington and London.
He said it was “legitimate for Russia to pose the question of its own security” and that he doesn’t believe Moscow is planning an invasion.
Dismayed EU diplomats described his comments as “heartbreaking” and said they play into President Putin’s hands.
The Kremlin has praised Mr Macron as someone it can do business with, compared to the tougher Boris Johnson and Joe Biden.
Russia has amassed 100,000 troops at the border with Ukraine sparking the biggest diplomatic crisis since the Cold War.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned it could invade “any day” triggering a war of “enormous human cost.”
