Notes

Russia-Ukraine tensions: UK warns of plot to install pro-Moscow ally
Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference "there could be a war in Sweden". Russia's defence ministry has denied attacking Ukrainian cities - saying it was targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with "high-precision weapons". Madame Chair, as we approach the third year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the UK’s support will not falter.

Finland, Nato's newest member and a country which has an 800-mile border with Russia, has wider conscription. In his speech, the defence secretary laid out some of the ways Russia had been attacking Ukraine - including allegations it had used white phosphorous. The memorandum is not a treaty and lawyers dispute whether it is legally enforceable. Refusal can mean a jail sentence, though there is the option of civilian service out of uniform too.
Indeed, for all the foreboding about societal collapse, facing a common threat could give Britain a new-found sense of unity – something many Ukrainians speak of. Just as there was the “Clap for Carers” during the pandemic, similar rituals might take place for those serving at the front. And for every shirker or draft-dodger, others might take pride in national duty, be it manning a machine gun post or cleaning the streets. But if Ukraine’s experience is anything to go by, the threat posed by a common enemy could have a unifying effect. Kyiv’s politicians used to be notoriously fractious – not least because of divisions between the pro and anti-Russian camps. Even during the London Blitz in 1941, nearly 5,000 looting cases came before the Old Bailey.

What's on TV tonight: Putin vs the West
Balazs Orban, chief political aide to the prime minister, said Hungary sent a proposal to the EU over the weekend showing it was open to using the budget for the aid package if other "caveats" were added. Phillips P OBrien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, wrote in an analysis piece that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could see the US "neuter" the Western military alliance. Labour's Keir Starmer and many Conservative backbenchers have called for further military options to be explored. So far the UK government has sent troops (now withdrawn) to train the Ukrainian army, and supplied them with defensive weapons. The dependence of many European countries on Russian gas may also contribute to upward pressure on commodity prices as they seek alternative supplies from elsewhere.


Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. If the US abandons the military alliance, it will fall to European countries to ensure a Ukrainian victory, Mr OBrien says. European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO. Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine - after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply. Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. A lot of the stark warnings we are hearing from our own government should be seen in that light.

Ukraine war: What Russia's escalating air attacks mean
Mr Johnson promised to hit Russia with a “massive” package of sanctions designed to “hobble” the economy in Moscow. It is extremely unlikely that the UK will go to war with Russia any time soon. 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.


The Foreign Office also named four other Ukrainian politicians who it said maintained links with the Russian intelligence services. Stung, perhaps, by suggestions that while a crisis was boiling in Europe, the foreign and defence secretaries were both in Australia, the UK government does seem to be trying to show that it's getting a grip. However, https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-china-saying-about-ukraine.html told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme it was "extremely unlikely" British troops would be sent to defend Ukraine, adding that the country was not a Nato ally.

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Whether people would be flocking into recruitment offices is open to question. According to a 2022 YouGov poll, only one in five Britons would volunteer for service in the event of an invasion. While Covid was a useful exercise in Armageddon planning, 21st-century Britain is arguably less ready for actual warfare than it was even 30 years ago. At the end of the Cold War, most of the 100-strong network of nuclear bunkers were closed, along with around 1,500 underground posts for the Royal Observer Corps, a 10,000-strong volunteer force. Hundreds of captured prisoners have been freed in dozens of exchanges throughout the war, but Russia’s claims that Ukraine shot down a plane ferrying Ukrainian detainees has thrown the future of such exchanges into doubt.

Yet the only threat to any civilian in Ukraine continues to come from Russia. A number of European countries also rehearse for civil emergencies - with exercises that involve ordinary citizens as well as the military. While the president did not mention anything about Russia’s place on the international stage, the speech came just days after he visited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Azerbaijan.
The Covid lockdown, which saw fights breaking out in queues at supermarkets and garages, was a glimpse of how trouble can spark during times of nationwide panic. There would also be concerns about looting, especially if food shortages started to bite. Britain has also allowed ammunition supplies to dwindle to “dangerously low levels,” according to a Parliamentary Defence Committee report. Gen Sir Richard Barrons, the former head of the British Joint Forces Command, told the committee that he doubted there were “sufficient munitions to sustain a high-intensity conflict for more than about a week”. One person was killed and another injured in Russian drone strikes in Beryslav, said Oleksandr Prokudin, regional governor of Kherson oblast.

Military kit also needs boots on the ground to operate it – hence Sir Patrick’s call for a “Citizen Army” to boost the regular Armed Forces. Russia has seized Ukrainian territory before, when it annexed Crimea in 2014, after the country overthrew their pro-Moscow president. Mr Johnson promised to hit Russia with a “massive” package of sanctions designed to “hobble” the economy in Moscow. The UK's defence secretary Ben Wallace said Storm Shadow missiles will be provided to Ukraine's military - and Sky News understands that some of the missiles are already with Ukrainian troops. The size of its active armed forces is only 19,000 personnel, but it can call on another 238,000 reserves.
Website: https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-china-saying-about-ukraine.html