Downing Street said that Britain is considering a significant increase in its military presence on the European continent, especially in Eastern Europe.
London will make a major NATO deployment as part of a plan to strengthen Europe’s borders in response to Russia’s deployment of troops on the Ukrainian border. They stressed that they would respond to any Russian attack on Ukraine with immediate sanctions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit the region next week and will also speak with Vladimir Putin on the phone. He wants to express the view that without a successful combination of deterrence and diplomacy, thousands of lives could be lost in both Russia and Ukraine.
Johnson spoke of a “maximum offer” to NATO members in the Nordic and Baltic states that would double the number of troops and send defensive weapons to Estonia (Britain currently has over 900 troops stationed in Estonia). The Prime Minister affirmed:
The British Prime Minister said I have instructed our armed forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, to ensure we can support our NATO allies. Government officials will finalize details of the offer in Brussels next week, and ministers will discuss military options on Monday.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and the defense minister will travel to Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in the coming days to improve relations and ease tensions. Defense Minister Ben Wallace is scheduled to visit Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia this week.
