The British Foreign Secretary has said that the Russian invasion into Ukraine would metamorphose into “a long-running conflict” with “severe costs.”
While talking to Sky News, Liz Truss described the current situation on the Ukraine–Russia border as a “very dangerous moment for the world.”
She said: “If we saw an invasion into Ukraine, there would be severe costs in terms of a long-running conflict, we could see the undermining of security more broadly in Europe and could see other aggressors around the world see it as an opportunity to expand their ambitions too.
“This is a very dangerous moment for the world.
“This is, of course, about Ukraine, which is an important sovereign nation but it’s also about the wider stability of Europe and it’s about wider global security.”
She added that an invasion into Ukraine would be “hugely damaging for Russia and Ukraine.”
“This, I fear, would not stop at Ukraine. This is an attack on the neighboring states of Russia and other east European countries in trying to undermine legitimacy of them being part of NATO.”
The remarks by Truss came before Russia announced that some of the troops have started moving back to places of permanent deployment as military drills are coming to a halt.
Amid rising tensions, a high-level security meeting will be held in London. The meeting will discuss the current situation regarding the crisis on Ukraine’s Russia border.
Tensions between Russia, Ukraine, and the West increased after the US issued a stark warning recently, saying the latest intelligence reports reveal that Russia could launch a military attack against Ukraine “any day now.”
Ukraine has been affected by conflict in its eastern regions since March 2014 after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine authorities said Moscow recently amassed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine, triggering fears that the Kremlin could be planning another military offensive against its neighbor.
Russia has debunked claims that it is preparing to storm and alleged that Western countries are undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.
Also, the Kremlin released a list of security demands to the West, which include a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states, and assurances that Ukraine would not join NATO.
While responding to the demands, the United States said it was committed to upholding NATO’s “open-door policy,” while NATO also conveyed the alliance’s reply “in parallel with the United States.”
