As tensions between Russia and Ukraine rise, UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has announced that 350 more troops will be deployed to Poland in the “spirit of solidarity.”
He announced in a press conference with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Baszczak that the UK would add to the 100 troops dispatched to Poland in November to deal with the country’s border conflict with Russia-backed Belarus.
Emmanuel Macron has flown to Moscow for urgent talks with Vladimir Putin before heading to Kiev on Tuesday.
He is expected to urge Mr Putin to promise he would not invade Ukraine.
Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, has maintained that it has no intention of invading, but it has asked Ukraine to pledge that it would never be admitted to Nato.
The Kremlin has stated that negotiations on nuclear armaments control desired by the US will not be permitted unless the Kremlin’s worries about Nato are addressed.
PM Boris Johnson wants to offer Russia “reassurance” to help dispel its “unfounded” fears about “potential Nato aggression”, his spokesman said.
He added: “We have been clear that those concerns are fundamentally unfounded as Nato is a defensive alliance at its heart.”
