A visiting British Minister has urged allies including Australia not to abandon Ukraine, declaring the war-torn nation “can and will” defeat Russia’s illegal invasion.
Key points:
- The UK’s military minister says UK troops could be stationed in Darwin
- UK and Australian military leaders have criticised former pilots working with the Chinese military
- The minister also reiterated the need of continued support for Ukraine
UK Armed Services Minister James Heappey also flagged the possibility of British troops being eventually stationed in Darwin and hit out at veterans who later work with the Chinese military.
Speaking in Canberra, where he has held talks with senior officials, Mr Heappey said he was confident Ukraine would prevail in the war if it was properly supported by the West.
“My sort of message is that the Ukrainians can and will win this, the only thing that would limit their ability to do so is if the donor community loses patience and resolve,” the former Army officer said.
“That means that we have to be realistic about the ongoing offensive, I think at the moment it’s going broadly as you’d expect – what they’ve got to do is pretty hard.
“The Ukrainians are advancing uniformly across the entire frontage – it’s slow going to get through the minefield but when they find a gap, they’ve got everything really that the West has gifted them”.
Despite dwindling stockpiles of munitions across the world, the minister says Russian President Vladimir Putin should not simply expect to wear down the Ukrainians.
“He should not think that he can outwait the West, it won’t happen. Our resolve is such and our industrial base is such that he’d be better to leave Ukraine now rather than think that he can fight on indefinitely and eventually we’ll get bored.”
British troops in Darwin could be UK’s ‘next step’ for regional commitment
While in Australia, Mr Heappey has met troops taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre. He said it was possible that British troops could one day be stationed in the top end.
The armed forces minister said the UK was “still in a discovery phase” with two offshore patrol vessels permanently deployed to the region, and “learning an awful lot about the geography of the region and where we need to be”.
“Darwin’s not impossible, it comes up quite regularly and in conversation about what the Aussies and the US are doing up there and whether we should be there too, it’s not something that we’ve got an active plan for,” he said.
“It’s certainly not something we’ve spoken to the Australian government about yet but feels a lot more proximate as a next step to UK commitment in the region than starting to look for basing on more contested territories”.
Veterans who take paid work with China’s military branded ‘offensive’
Before entering politics, Mr Heappey served in the British army, with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland, and has condemned fellow veterans who have sought “financial gain” by working for China’s military.
“It is offensive to me as someone who has served in the UK armed forces that other veterans of the UK armed forces might somehow think that it is acceptable for them for their own financial gain to go off and work with a competitor”.
“We’re moving at pace in the UK to make sure that those who do that can be held to account and I suspect that other allies and partners who have also seen their veterans being used in that way will be wanting to do likewise.”
In February Australia’s domestic intelligence boss condemned former military personnel who put “cash before country” by working for authoritarian regimes, describing them as “top tools” more than “top guns”.