UK warns Putin faces Ukraine ‘quagmire’
Published on: Saturday, January 22, 2022
By: AFP
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne (left), Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton (second left), British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (second right) and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (right) are seen during a meeting in Sydney. (AFP)
SYDNEY: Russia risks becoming embroiled in a “terrible quagmire” if it invades Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned Friday, raising the spectre of a prolonged, bloody and sapping conflict for Moscow.In a speech in Australia, the UK’s top diplomat issued a blunt and personal warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is on the brink of making a major strategic blunder.
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He “has not learned the lessons of history,” Truss told Sydney’s Lowy Institute, urging Putin to “desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake.”
“Invasion will only lead to a terrible quagmire and loss of life, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan war and conflict in Chechnya,” she said, referencing Moscow’s past conflicts that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Tens of thousands of Russian troops are massed on Ukraine’s border, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles.
The drumbeat of invasion has been growing for months and the White House believes an attack could now come “at any point.”
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Few military experts believe that Kyiv’s smaller forces, although rapidly modernising, could repel an outright Russian invasion.
But Truss underscored the risks for the Kremlin even if it has the military upper hand, suggesting a protracted Ukrainian resistance that ensnares occupying Russian forces.
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“The Ukrainians will fight this, it could be a quagmire” she said.
“Ukraine is a proud country with a long history. They have known invading forces before from the Mongols to the Tartars... their resilience runs deep. If they have to, Ukrainians will fight to defend their country.”
Russia has inflicted pressure on Ukraine since an uprising nearly a decade ago toppled a government that had resisted calls to move closer to the West.
Moscow seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014 when a pro-Russian insurgency broke out in eastern Ukraine that has since claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Britain is among a handful of Western nations rushing lethal weapons, like anti-tank missiles, to Ukraine, dramatically increasing the prospect of Russian casualties.
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