As Prime Minister Boris Johnson travelled to NATO and Poland, Britain announced it was ready to deploy 1,000 more troops to respond to any humanitarian disaster relating to Ukraine.
His visit falls on the same day as a crisis meeting between British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, during which the UK and other US-led allies demand that Russia end its threats against Ukraine.
“As an alliance, we must draw lines in the snow and be clear there are principles upon which we will not compromise,” Johnson said ahead of his talks in Brussels with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
“That includes the security of every NATO ally and the right of every European democracy to aspire to NATO membership,” he said, rebuffing Russian demands to rule out Ukraine ever joining the alliance.
Johnson will travel from Brussels to Warsaw, where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and members of a UK military presence in the nation, which is slated to expand by 350 troops.
Britain is nearly tripling the size of its NATO force in Estonia, from 900 to 1,750 troops, and has a smaller force in Ukraine for anti-tank missile training.
“1,000 more British troops will be put at readiness in the UK to help a humanitarian response in the region if it is needed,” Johnson said, according to Downing Street.
He’ll also reveal that Britain is sending two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean and more Royal Air Force jets to southern Europe.
