Sunak gears up to back Zelensky on fighter jets with NATO speech
President Zelensky thanks Britain in speech to Parliament
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Rishi Sunak will give his strongest indication yet that he is willing to support President Voldymyr Zelensky’s appeal for Ukraine to be given western fighter jets to fight off Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The demand that NATO allies “double down” on military aid to ensure Ukraine emerges victorious against Russia.
The Prime Minister is set to give a speech at midday tomorrow at the annual security conference in Munich attended by the NATO allies.
The message will perhaps be most aimed at the conference’s host nation with Germany recently highly reluctant to be persuaded into sending tanks to Ukraine after the UK led the way.
With allies now debating Zelensky’s appeal for fighter jets, Mr Sunak will call on him to get the support he needs.
He will say: “Now is the moment to double down on our military support.
“When Putin started this war, he gambled that our resolve would falter. Even now he is betting we will lose our nerve.
“But we proved him wrong then, and we will prove him wrong now.”
The last meeting of the Munich Security Conference was held days before Russian troops launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the year that has elapsed since, the European continent has confronted a security challenge not seen for generations.
The Prime Minister will use his speech at the global security forum to say that securing a lasting peace for Ukraine will require a strengthening of international law and the creation of a new framework for Ukraine’s long-term security.
He will advocate for a new NATO charter to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression – providing them the assurance of support they need in the long-term.
Mr Sunak is expected to say: “We need to do more to boost Ukraine’s long-term security.
“We must give them the advanced, NATO-standard capabilities that they need for the future.
“And we must demonstrate that we’ll remain by their side, willing and able to help them defend their country again and again.”
The Prime Minister has previously stressed the need to bolster Ukraine with NATO-standard defences and capabilities, not merely as a pre-cursor to future NATO membership but as a way of ensuring that Russia cannot threaten Ukraine in the way it has consistently since 2014.
In his speech, the Prime Minister will say that this action is necessary not just to protect Ukraine, but to defend the security of the whole European continent and the global order that has maintained peace and security for 80 years.
He will say: “What is at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation. It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation.
“Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.”
Mr Sunak was embarrassed during President Zelensky’s visit when his predecessor Boris Johnson intervened to support the Ukrainian appeal for fighter jets.
Defence industry analyst Nicholas Drummond said that in the short-term Ukraine needs ammunition.
He said: “The problem is that we did not model the consumption of ammunition in Ukraine properly.
“They were really based on flawed assumptions, something like 400 rounds per gun per artillery. that is so beyond anything we imagined that we cant cope with that. so there is a real shortage, if the consumption continues, its going to get worse because we’re expecting an offensive.
“The issue is not only that we fail to supply ukraine but also that we dont have enough ourselves.
“The pressure to ramp up artillery production is enormous.”
He continued: “The second issue is combat aircraft. Ukraine still needs more tanks.
“They’ve got 100 so far, they need 300 at least. Its really availability because we don’t want to leave ourselves short. Training, other things like small arms. radio equipment, other vehicles. Logistic support systems and things like that. But what colours all of this discussion, at NATO summit level, is that we want to avoid escalation.
“So what we’re doing at the moment, our policy has been just enough, just in time. We don’t want Ukraine to run out but at the same time, Putin could suddenly turn round and attack a NATO country. he could decide to attack Poland because they were directly supporting Ukraine and it was a justified retaliation. if something like that happens, then all bets are off.
“Any normal person would want a very swift conclusion.
“The scale of Russian casualties now is that of the second world war. at the beginning of January it was about 120,000 dead. now we believe its gone well beyond that. Ukraine is saying up to 150,000 dead. and another 150,000 injured.”
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