The West is “finished ignoring the signals coming from Russia and defense spending has now been cut to the bone”. He added: “There has been a kind of cumulative disarmament.” General Shirreff said there was a “new cold war” and leaders at the NATO meeting in Brussels must prevent it from getting worse. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the retired army officer said: ‘The reality is that Russia has been at war with the West since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. .
“The invasion of Crimea, the West completely ignored the signals coming from Russia.
“And defense spending has now been reduced to a bone.
“There has been a kind of cumulative disarmament, especially in Europe over the past decade and more, now is the time to turn the tide.
“Now is the time to correct this. It must be recognized that there will be no peace in Europe as long as Putin is in the Kremlin.
“In Ukraine, the war is hot has become hot.”
He called for a significant build-up of NATO forces on Europe’s eastern flank, for more defense spending and for Western countries to continue providing equipment to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
He said there had to be a much larger deployment than the four battlegroups in Eastern Europe.
He added: “It’s not going to raise the risk bar so high that Putin thinks it’s not worth going to NATO. To be truly effective, it needs to be a four to five times larger combat force.
“Our political leaders have to make tough choices, of course they have.
“But at the end of the day, defense is the government’s first priority.
“And until some of the military capabilities that have been cut, reduced and gone over the past decade, plus more, are put back in place – fit for the needs of 21st century warfare – we will continue to be in danger.
“So I think defense spending has to be a top priority for this government.”
It comes as Vladimir Putin faces a growing risk of rebellion from his security services as his disastrous war in Ukraine rumbles on, a dissident Russian journalist has claimed.
Vladimir Osechkin published letters from an agent of the Federal Security Service [FSB]the main successor to the infamous Soviet-era KGB, which reveals the anger against the president.
So far, Mr. Osechkin has published nearly a dozen whistleblower letters.
Putin reportedly blamed the FSB for Russia’s failure in Ukraine, with observers believing he intended to quickly overthrow the democratically elected government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mr Osechkin – who lives in exile in France – said: “For 20 years Putin has created stability in Russia.
“FSB agents, policemen, prosecutors – those people inside the system – were able to lead a good life.
“But now it’s all gone. They recognize that this war is a disaster for the economy, for humanity. They don’t want to go back to the Soviet Union.
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Source: www.express.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-24 15:15:11
