A message to Putin that “it is not too late to stop what he is doing” was sent from Tallinn, Estonia by the Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom Ben Wallace.
Otherwise, he added, it risks endangering Russia’s international isolation for decades. “The idea of having a smooth relationship with the Russian government will be almost impossible as a result of what we have seen in Ukraine, unless President Putin chooses to stop what he is doing now,” he said.
“It does not end here. “The consequences of what we are seeing in Ukraine will have an impact on Europe and NATO not only for weeks, but for months and years.”
Mr. Wallace also said that what we have seen in Ukraine goes beyond what many expected, as in addition to the illegal invasion, President Putin “unleashes violence and bombing of civilian areas and potentially causes thousands of civilian casualties.”
He added: “How far Putin will go, the weapons he will authorize to be used to achieve his ultimate goal, is unknown, but we have seen the use of a huge amount of artillery shells. “We have seen the development of thermobaric weapon systems and we are concerned about how widely they could be used.”
He noted that NATO and the wider international community were united in rejecting Russia’s actions through sanctions. “We will not accept what we see in Ukraine, we will stand by the brave Ukrainian government and the brave Ukrainian soldiers,” Wallace said.
Asked once again why NATO does not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, he replied that this would almost certainly mean downing Russian aircraft, Russian retaliation, activation of Article 5 of the Alliance Treaty and consequently a general war in Europe.
The British government also announced new sanctions, this time against Russian companies in the aviation and space sectors. These companies will no longer have access to insurance and reinsurance services based in the UK, either directly or indirectly.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Sajid Javid announced that London had sent more than 300,000 pieces of medical supplies to Ukraine.
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