Notes

Ukraine: Boris Johnson warns Russian invasion would be disastrous
And in a globalised world, many industries that are key in wartime rely on imports. After an uneasy peace with Ukraine, Moscow has sent forces into the Baltics, clashing with British troops based there to protect Nato’s eastern flank. The government says it wants to spend 2.5% of national income on defence - but has still not said when. One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion. He was not making a case for conscription or for an imminent call up of volunteers. Instead, he was urging Britain to prepare for a mass mobilisation of tens of thousands of people, should war break out.

The prime minister also sought to reassure the British public, pledging to do "everything to keep our country safe" and work with allies "for however long it takes" to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has since advised all UK citizens to leave the country, but it is not known how many remain and the FCDO has declined to comment on numbers. The UK supports Ukraine in becoming a member of the EU and NATO.[11][12] In this context London has implemented a series of sanctions and restrictive measures both in unilateral and multilateral formats.
Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference "there could be a war in Sweden". On Tuesday, the chief of Norway’s armed forces said the country must increase defence spending in the face of a potential war with Russia within three years, following its neighbour Sweden in urging citizens to brace for conflict. Calls have recently come from senior figures on both sides of the Atlantic for the UK to be prepared in case of a potential war between Nato forces and Russia.

US planning to station nuclear weapons in UK amid threat from Russia – report
The Biden administration already has sent Ukraine $111bn in weapons, humanitarian assistance and other aid. “The two leaders will reaffirm their resolute support for Ukraine’s defence of its land and its people against Russia’s war of aggression,” the White House said in a statement Saturday. We have also not made any explicit adjustments for the domestic consequences of international sanctions on Russian financial institutions or individuals, beyond what might be reflected in equity prices in the fiscal forecast. We do not assume these actions have a material effect on overall financial stability, lending, or investment in the UK. Since 2014, Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine's armed forces have been fighting a war in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in which more than 14,000 people have died.


But Russia is a major producer in global energy markets, accounting for 17 per cent of gas and 12 per cent of oil production globally in 2019 (Chart B, bottom-right panel). And both the UK’s domestic and foreign supplies of oil and gas are purchased at market prices which, as described elsewhere in this chapter, have risen sharply following the Russian invasion and international response. The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on our forecast for the UK economy comes primarily via the impact of higher energy prices on inflation, real incomes, consumption and imports. Higher oil prices feed into the fuel component of CPI prices directly, while the household utility component is adjusted for expected changes in wholesale gas and electricity prices every six months via the Ofgem price gap.

European security
He said he was launching a “special military operation” in the east of the country. Russia has gradually built up a force of close to 190,000 troops around the Ukrainian border over the last few weeks but maintained that it had no intention to invade – until last night. Some migrants might stay in neighbouring Poland and eastern European countries, but some might head further west and eventually end up in the UK.


The UK is not protected from rising prices purely because it relies less on Russian gas. These LNG supplies are very sensitive to global market prices and are sold to those offering the highest price. Russia’s invasion caused international stock markets to drop dramatically, with the FTSE 100 in London falling by 3.2 per cent. Andrey Kelin told Times Radio on Friday that any measure the UK took against Moscow would be met with an equal response, but he refused to give further detail on how this could look. Moscow’s ambassador to London previously warned that the UK would be hit with “immediate retaliation” if it tried to sanction Russia. It is extremely unlikely that the UK will go to war with Russia any time soon.


A source told BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley the meeting was "tempestuous" and ended early after Ms Truss said the ambassador should be "ashamed" of Russia's behaviour in Ukraine, adding that the Kremlin had lied repeatedly. Ukrainian protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Thursday afternoon to call for more action from the UK and the international community. "Because this act of wanton and reckless aggression is an attack not just on Ukraine, it's an attack on democracy and freedom in eastern Europe and around the world."


If Ukraine was part of Nato, the military alliance which is made up of 30 member states, including the US and UK, every Nato nation would have to launch an armed attack against Russia. 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. After 2,000 anti-tank weapons were delivered last week and 30 British troops arrived to teach Ukrainian forces how to use them, the phrase "God Save the Queen" began trending on Twitter in Ukraine.

If Ukraine was part of Nato, the military alliance which is made up of 30 member states, including the US and UK, every Nato nation would have to launch an armed attack against Russia. Whether people would be flocking into recruitment offices is open to question. If we took casualties at the rate the Ukrainians are taking them, the NHS would immediately be overwhelmed, and for years we’ve missed recruitment targets for the Armed Forces. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK should brace itself for the "economic pain" the country will experience by imposing sanctions against Russia. Some migrants might stay in neighbouring Poland and eastern European countries, but some might head further west and eventually end up in the UK.
There is a sense in the upper echelons of the British military that many politicians and most of the public have not grasped the threat they see. It is the duty of the military to analyse that threat, and they still might be proved wrong. But https://euronewstop.co.uk/how-big-is-ukraine-compared-to-uk.html to Russian borders appear to be taking it more seriously. Germany's Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, recently told a German newspaper "we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day". While he said such an attack is unlikely now, "our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible". After the invasion international oil prices surged by nearly $6 per barrel to more than $100, levels not seen since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, and have since passed $120.


The Russian president has intensified a crackdown on opposition since the start of his invasion of Ukraine, and this has ramped up further as the elections have approached. "A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak. "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. But be we warriors or wimps, now is the time to start facing up to the prospect, says Ed Arnold, a European Security Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. If we took casualties at the rate the Ukrainians are taking them, the NHS would immediately be overwhelmed, and for years we’ve missed recruitment targets for the Armed Forces. Even during the London Blitz in 1941, nearly 5,000 looting cases came before the Old Bailey.


Homepage: https://euronewstop.co.uk/how-big-is-ukraine-compared-to-uk.html