A former commander of the UK’s armed forces has warned against British soldiers being drafted into any post-conflict peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Lord Richards insisted as our troops belong to NATO they could not police any territory close to Russian soil due to Kremlin sensitivities.
The retired general, who was previously Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), was speaking after Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday refused to rule out such a deployment.
In an interview on Radio 4’s The World At One, he said: ‘I would strongly advise the government not to get involved in any such force.
‘Some UN force could work but we are NATO and that is the bottom line for Russia, they do not want NATO in Ukraine.
‘It would be a red rag to a bull, President Putin would not agree to it any way. Also, we have got to reinforce Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, should such a [peace] deal be done.
‘Russia views NATO in Ukraine as an existential issue and they are prepared to fight and expend a lot of treasure to prevent it. We need to accept Russia’s view even though we might not understand it.’
Lord Richards likened the post-conflict political landscape in Ukraine to the aftermath of the Korean war and the establishment of North Korea and South Korea.
Lord Richards insisted as our troops belong to NATO they could not police any territory close to Russian soil due to Kremlin sensitivities
Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk. In an interview on Radio 4’s The World At One, he said: ‘I would strongly advise the government not to get involved in any such force. ‘Some UN force could work but we are NATO and that is the bottom line for Russia, they do not want NATO in Ukraine’
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery close to the frontline
While in the near future at least Ukraine could be unlikely to recover territory in its eastern provinces illegally occupied by Russian forces, this did not mean the country, or NATO, had ‘lost’ the war.
He said: ‘Strategically, they [Russia] have been defeated. Remember was they were trying to do in February 2022. And NATO today is stronger, bigger and more united than ever before.
‘Russia has to be given something as a get out clause but we can counter any claim by Putin [to have won the war].’
Lord Richards was previously head of the British Army and head of all the UK’s armed forces. He also led operations in East Timor, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.
He was also a key advisor when the UK led a United Nations mission to protect Libyan civilians in 2011.
Lord Richards also offered a withering appraisal of Britain’s approach, suggesting this country had acted ‘immorally’ by encouraging Ukraine to fight while withholding sufficient weaponry to win the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday refused to rule out the deployment of British troops
While in the near future at least Ukraine could be unlikely to recover territory in its eastern provinces illegally occupied by Russian forces, this did not mean the country, or NATO, had ‘lost’ the war
In his view Ukraine should have been encouraged to strike a peace deal with Russia after the initial invasion had been repelled.
He said: ‘What we’ve given Ukraine has been too little too late. To many people encouraged Ukraine, after they did quite well in 2022. But that was the high watermark.
‘A lot of people should have known better. Then would have been a good time to start negotiating.
‘Sadly the result was many thousands more have died. It is immoral to keep people fighting without ensuring they can succeed. To that degree the West is culpable [for the loss of lives].’