The UK is not considering conscription, a senior minister has said, following a tumultuous week which saw Donald Trump withdraw support from Ukraine.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said “Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence” ahead of talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia next week.
But fears have been raised about the UK’s dwindling armed forces numbers. Asked whether conscription is something the Government has in mind, Mr McFadden told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We’re not considering conscription, but, of course, we’ve announced a major increase in defence expenditure a couple of weeks ago, and we do have to recognise that the world has changed here.
“The phrase ‘step up’ is used a lot in recent weeks and Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence. President Trump isn’t actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors. So, I think we’ve got to recognise that moment.”
While the UK has emphasised European countries must “step up”, Mr McFadden admitted countries cannot be “dragooned” into the coalition of the willing and they have to “make their own decision” on how they want to support Ukraine. But he added: “We want European countries to step up.”
The senior politician refused to say it was “wrong” for the US to have withdrawn satellite images and other information from Ukraine, as the government continues to try to stay on side with Us President Mr Trump. It follows the US last week also halting military and intelligence help to Ukraine.
At least 25 people have died in Ukraine in the latest wave of Russian strikes over the weekend, Ukrainian officials say. Officials from 20 countries, mostly from Europe and the Commonwealth, last week engaged in discussions over peace in Ukraine.
But only the UK and France have publicly committed peacekeeping troops to guarantee security in the war-town country. Asked if the two countries were looking at “going at it alone”, Mr McFadden said adding up the number of countries involved was not a “measure of success” but that the UK’s focus was on a lasting and secure peace in Ukraine.
He continued: “The phrase ‘step up’ has been used quite a lot in recent weeks. The UK is stepping up. The Prime Minister certainly stepped up and other countries have indicated that they want to do that.
“Of course, coalition of the willing means people have to be up for it. They have to step forward themselves, they can’t be dragooned by us. But the UK and the Prime Minister is playing an important role in those discussions, and will continue to do that.”