Liz Truss vows to be Ukraine’s best friend if she becomes prime minister
- Foreign Minister pledged to double aid to Ukraine
- Truss also said she would update the Integrated Defense and Security Review
- The review, published last March, was completed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan
Liz Truss has vowed to be Ukraine’s ‘best friend’ if she becomes prime minister, following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs promised to double support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr . to make Zelenski her first call to a foreign leader when she becomes the next resident of No. 10.
Miss Truss also said she would update the Integrated Defense and Security Review in light of the conflict in Ukraine, something opposition MPs and the House of Commons Defense Committee have been seeking for months.
She said: ‘What is happening in Ukraine matters to all of us. This is not just a battle for territory or a conflict between two nations, but a great battle between those who believe in sovereignty and self-determination, and authoritarians who want to destroy freedom and true democracy.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrives at her office in central London, Great Britain, on July 27, 2022
“As Prime Minister, I will be Ukraine’s greatest friend – following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson – and fully committed to it” [Russian president Vladimir] Putin fails in Ukraine and suffers a strategic defeat, and that Russia will be limited in the future. This conflict is in balance, and now is not the time to sound about concessions and compromises to a horrible dictator.
“We must continue to provide weapons, aid and diplomatic support in collaboration with our partners in the West.”
She added: “I am the candidate that the British people can rely on Ukraine, and they can rely on to defend our freedom at home and abroad.”
The Integrated Defense and Security Review, published last March, was completed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
It sets out the government’s vision for Britain’s role in the world over the next decade. Miss Truss would add a renewed focus on China and Russia. She believes that the invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing influence require a new approach to British security.
Miss Truss has also vowed to oblige Britain to take a leading role in a ‘new Marshall Plan’ to provide technical and financial assistance in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, right, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba give a press statement at the British Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, April 4, 2022
As prime minister, she would host Britain’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2023 to bring Kiev and its allies together to discuss how to rebuild the country.
She has already pledged to increase defense spending to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. In a speech to the Atlantic Council in Washington DC in March, Ms. Truss said Putin’s aggression showed that “the era of complacency is over.” .
She continued: “The invasion of Ukraine is a paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11. How we respond today will set the pattern for this new era.
“Leaving Putin’s expansionism unchallenged would send a dangerous signal to potential aggressors. We can’t let that happen. We will shape this new global era for global security.”