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What Does War In Ukraine Actually Mean For The UK? HuffPost UK Politics
Russia might use the crisis to launch cyber and other hybrid attacks on Nato countries. It could even send troops to the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Oil prices have also risen since the invasion, given Russia’s role as an oil producer and as a form of security for investors as the stock market slumps. In terms of military aid, the UK has trained 22,000 Ukrainian troops under Operation Orbital since 2015, supporting both Ukraine’s army and navy.

Writing on Twitter, he added the US and its allies and partners would impose "severe sanctions on Russia" and continue to provide support to Ukraine and its people. However, he warned of "chaos" if European states do not show enough unity and determination. This is because Nato uses a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. A prominent war expert says the US is on the verge of lessening its support for, or even withdrawing from, NATO - with potentially catastrophic consequences for Europe. While the official said it was hard to say these were all strategically related, it showed that there was an issue on Eastern Europe's eastern flank.
Both President Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed that conscripts would not be sent to fight in Ukraine. Leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have both called for an accelerated roll-out of clean energy. Germany has said it might need to use coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, for longer than expected, in order to free itself from gas. It came as Ukraine was hit by a wave of Russian missiles on Tuesday, in attacks that killed eight people and wounded dozens in Kyiv and Kharkiv. The Royal Navy is struggling to hire more than the other forces, with just 29,000 full-time recruits.

What Does War In Ukraine Actually Mean For The UK?
Russia’s actions have drawn widespread condemnation from the West, including from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who addressed the UK with a televised statement on Thursday. Europe itself could restrict future gas flows by abandoning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which would run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Some autocratic leaders are looking to see how robustly the West resists attempts to undermine the territorial integrity of a sovereign nation. Western powers are acutely aware this crisis is being closely watched by the rest of the world.


This was in return for Ukraine giving up its massive arsenal of nuclear weapons, a legacy of its membership of the Soviet Union. But his remark lives on as a challenge to all policymakers thinking about whether to engage diplomatically - and even militarily - in a potential conflict between two foreign countries. The former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has long been criticised for describing Germany's attempted annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 as "a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing". Ukraine also provided around 3% of the UK’s iron and steel imports last year, another important commodity at a time when the Government is pursuing major infrastructure projects.

Sky News Services
Mr Johnson said the UK and its allies would agree a "massive package of economic sanctions" in a bid to "hobble" the Russian economy, warning that the West would need to cease its dependence on Russian oil and gas. Speaking at a military conference, Sanders starkly described the British people as part of a “prewar generation” who may have to prepare themselves to fight in a war against an increasingly aggressive Russia. The chief of general staff highlighted the example of Sweden, which has just reintroduced a form of national service as it closes in on joining Nato. Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said the prime minister did not agree with comments made by Gen Sir Patrick Sanders in a speech on Wednesday, and was forced to insist there would be no return to national service, which was abolished in 1960. The Western defence official said that if Russia chose to carry out an attack now it could do so.

But Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, said he believed Russia was trying to install a pro-Moscow leader. Russia has seized Ukrainian territory before, when it annexed Crimea in 2014, after the country overthrew their pro-Moscow president. And in a globalised world, many industries that are key in wartime rely on imports. One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion. The rest is made up of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported to the UK by sea from countries such as Qatar and the US.
Those remaining have again been urged to leave Ukraine immediately - if they judge it is safe to do so. Martial law - which means the military takes control temporarily - has been imposed across the whole of Ukraine and traffic jams built up as people fled the capital city of Kyiv. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a "catastrophe for our continent", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at Please include your name, age and location with any submission. There was a major separatist conflict in Chechnya in the 1990s, with a decade of ultimately unsuccessful fighting for its independence. Speaking as the Foreign Office pulled some embassy staff out of Ukraine, the PM said the situation was "pretty gloomy" but war was not inevitable.

Invasion of Ukraine
In his speech, Sanders said the cold war peace dividend was over, noting that “over the last 30 years, the army has been halved in size; in the last 12 years, we’ve absorbed a 28% reduction”. Recruitment remained a challenge, he said, although applications to join were “the highest in six years”. A little earlier, we told you about a report in the Financial Times that the EU was proposing to sabotage Hungary's economy if Budapest blocks further aid for Ukraine this week. Only aircraft deployed to protect energy facilities, or those carrying top Russian or foreign officials, will be allowed to fly with special permission in the designated zones, according to the Vedomosti daily newspaper. https://euronewstop.co.uk/where-is-croatia-in-relation-to-ukraine.html of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities.

As cars queued on Ukraine's border with Moldova, the country's pro-EU president, Maia Sandu said she was declaring a state of emergency and was prepared to give help to tens of thousands of Ukrainians. In Kyiv, some Ukrainian government officials appear to be taking them seriously. Some bars and restaurants in Kyiv were offering free drinks to anyone who had a UK passport. But the efforts to disrupt Ukrainian infrastructure have prompted “concerns that the same sort of attack could now be attempted in the UK”, the Daily Mail said. On Wednesday, the UK announced a package of sanctions against Russia as part of a co-ordinated Western response to the crisis.
Right now, such scenarios tend to exercise only the minds of Ministry of Defence war-gamers and military thriller writers. But far-fetched as they might sound, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of Britain’s army, believes it is time we dwelt on them more. But without political support, the mindset of a country that does not feel like it is about to go to war is unlikely to change. But he was making the point that if war broke out troop numbers would be too small. But it boosts the strength of the professional armed forces, which is often relatively small.


One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion. The size of its active armed forces is only 19,000 personnel, but it can call on another 238,000 reserves. As Gen Sir Patrick Sanders stated several times in his speech on Wednesday, "Ukraine really matters". Russia's ambitions, he said, were not just about seizing territory but "about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically and symbolically". But its method - a pair of statements aimed very much at the Sunday papers - has raised eyebrows. The Foreign Office, in a press release remarkably short on detail, said it had evidence of a Russian plot to install a puppet government in the wake of an invasion.


The measures against both the the banks and individuals include UK asset freezes, a travel ban and prohibition on British individuals and businesses dealing with them. The individuals concerned are Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg, all oligarchs who Mr Johnson described as “cronies” of the Russian president. Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Ban are the banks in question. While the UK has no plans to directly go to war with Russia, Mr Johnson had strong words for his Russian counterpart on Thursday. It is extremely unlikely that the UK will go to war with Russia any time soon.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss summoned Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, for the second time this week to ask him to explain the "illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine". But Russia is also reliant on revenues from fossil fuel sales, which make up around two fifths of government revenue. Johnson is hosting an emergency COBRA meeting about the offensive from Putin and will be announcing further sanctions on Russia.
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said "sham referenda" and mobilisation were signs of Russian weakness. Defence Minister Shoigu gave a new death toll on Wednesday - 5,937 Russian troops killed. But that is still far below the estimate of 25,000 dead given by the UK defence ministry in June, while Ukraine claims the figure is about 50,000.

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