Fallon: UK should engage Russia ‘military to military’
The UK needs to engage with Russia in all fronts, including military to military, says British Defense Minister Michael Fallon.
“Great nations like the US and Russia will talk. Indeed, they must talk to preserve the rules-based information system underpinning our security and prosperity. The UK too needs to engage with Russia, including military to military,” Fallon said in a hard-hitting speech at St Andrews University in Scotland.
“Engagement is an equation of risk versus reward, with the outcome decided by a nation’s deeds, not its words,” he added.
The UK military chief also addressed concerns about ties between the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under President Donald Trump, who has called the military alliance “obsolete.”
Trump has also shown strong willingness to work with Russia, despite the ongoing tensions between Moscow and NATO.
Britain and other members of NATO have been deploying weapons and equipment on Russia’s western borders since 2014, when the strategic peninsula of Crimea joined Russia after a referendum.
Fallon said he was sure that Trump was “100 percent backing NATO” amid the Russian threat.
“Russia is clearly testing NATO and the West. It is seeking to expand its sphere of influence, destabilize countries, and weaken the alliance.
“It is undermining national security for many allies and the international rules-based system. Therefore, it is in our interest and Europe’s to keep NATO strong and to deter and dissuade Russia from this course.”
The UK and Russian military forces have had several close contacts over the past weeks, with London sending jets and warships to escort Russian fleets passing through the English Channel.
The latest of such confrontations was in late January, when Fallon ordered a group of fighter jets and warships monitor the passing of the Russian Northern Fleet carrier group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier on its way back from Syria.
“We are keeping a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people,” he said then.
Fallon’s pledge to confront the Russian military comes at a time when, according to the UK army’s own think tank, the force is “effectively incapable” of matching Russia’s military might in case of a war.
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