The UK will send a further 350 troops to poland. The move follows the
arrival sunday of a few dozen elite us troops and equipment in southeastern
poland near the border with Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden had ordered to deploy 1,700 soldiers there amid fears
of a russian invasion of ukraine.
British defense secretary ben wallace on monday said 350 more british troops
would be sent to the polish border, to shore up nato's eastern flank against
any russian aggression.
Wallace said the troops would strengthen a contingent of 100 British
soldiers already there and would be a bilateral deployment to show that we
can work together and send a strong signal that britain and poland stand
side by side.
The announcement came following talks between wallace and polish defense
minister Marius Blaszczak amid growing fears of a russian invasion of
ukraine, which could spark a massive exodus of refugees into poland.
Belarus last year allowed migrants to cross its border into poland, parking
a humanitarian crisis and prompting the deployment of 100 british troops to
strengthen the border.
Blaszczak told journalists that the additional british troops would
cooperate with the polish armed forces on increasing the security especially
when it comes to the threats on the border.
Based on historical experience, we see that only a decisive deterrence
policy can stop any potential russian aggression and also based on the very
same history we do see. The policy of appeasement only encourages potential
enemies," Blaszczak added.
Wallace noted that recently belarus cynically used human beings as a way of
destabilizing neighbors. Using illegal migration or indeed forcing people
across the border, Britain stood shoulder to shoulder with poland and sent
100 royal engineers to support them in those efforts to counter the use of
migrants as a tool.
US officials have said the Kremlin has assembled 110,000 troops along the
border with pro-western neighbor ukraine but intelligence assessments have
not determined whether President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to
invade.
"An invasion could trigger a refugee flood of up to five million people,
mainly into Poland," the officials added.
Russia is seeking a guarantee from nato that Ukraine will not enter the
alliance and wants the block to withdraw forces from member states in
Eastern Europe.
Wallace on monday insisted that Nato is a defensive alliance and that
russian aggression would be counterproductive and lead to more nato. The
very thing that president putin says he doesn't want.
He said that russia's 2014 illegal annexation of crimea led to be enhanced
forward presence in Poland, in Estonia and in Latvia.
It reported that UK had also deployed its troops to estonia, a Nato member
state in baltic that bordering Russia despite claims from the kremlin that
russia has no plans on invading ukraine, world leaders have become
increasingly concerned about the escalating situation.
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after speaking with the
russian president vladimir putin he was assured russian forces would not
ramp up the crisis. However reports from nato member state estonia revealed
troops have become worried over a potential conflict.
British troops are among nato forces training near the border with russia as
part of a defense mission alongside estonian soldiers.
Estonian sergeant Carlos Sotalo warned a sky news reporter about the threat
russia imposes ,while expressing his gratitude for nato's assistance.
He told the publication it's a threat but we do our job like we always do.
It is good to have our allies here. An estonian government source has
revealed that despite receiving aid from Nato they are not prepared for an
attack. They told sky news, if russian troops move we are not prepared.
Most estimates have put the number of russian troops deployed around ukraine
at 100000 or more.
Russia is amassing new military forces in neighboring belarus, which means
the number of russian troops around ukraine is bigger than the western
estimate.
Moscow is amassing new troops in belarus, purportedly for joint military
drill,s as the specter of a full-scale invasion of ukraine hangs over
europe.
But top european officials warn that russia is unlikely to remove its troops
from belarus once they are stationed there, posing a new threat to nato's
eastern flank even if russia doesn't carry out an invasion of ukraine.
The military buildup in belarus seems to be something more permanent,
unfortunately and it's a great concern of ours, polish foreign ministers big
nevral told foreign policy in an interview during his recent visit to
Washington.
Russia has sent 30,000 troops to belarus for military exercises, according
to nato officials as well as high in military hardware, such as missile
systems that could threaten the security of eastern european members of
Nato.
The Kremlin's new deployments in belarus an authoritarian country closely
aligned with moscow, puts russian troops within 30 miles of the ukrainian
border and hundreds of miles closer to the capitals of Nato members Poland
and Lithuania.
The move comes as russia amasses additional forces on its western border
with ukraine, sparking a new diplomatic crisis between the west and the
kremlin as top u.s and european officials warn Russia could be laying the
groundwork to invade Ukraine.
Amid the standoff, US president joe biden announced the deployment of 3,000
additional u.s troops to Poland, Romania and Germany to shore up Nato's
eastern flank.
On the diplomatic front, french president Emmanuel Macron visited moscow on
monday to meet with russian president vladimir putin in an effort to defuse
tensions.
Macron said he believed there was a path to escalate the crisis, though
russia gave no indications it would back down from its military posturing.
Some 100,000 russian troops have now deployed near the ukrainian border from
both the east and from belarus.
The Kremlin denies it as any plans to invade ukraine and accuses the west of
being responsible for stoking tensions and claims its troops in belarus will
return to russia after the military drills, though it gave no timeline on
when that would be.
