Sir Richard Shirreff who was NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe has warned Sir Keir Starmer that more than 50,000 troops will have to be on the ground in Ukraine.
This comes as the Coalition of the Willing met in Paris on Tuesday and the UK and France signed a historic agreement to put troops into Ukraine as soon as ceasefire starts.
The former NATO commander warned Starmer that allied forces will have to “overmatch” Russia so that they can fight back if needed.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme Sir Richard drew parallels with Kosovo in 1999 which is a “pocket sized” country compared to Ukraine and then they sent 50,000 troops.
He warned the current level of defence spending is not enough and a “government without a sword is useless.”
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Sir Richard said, “Any reassurance or enforcement force from Britain, France and other partners that is deployed to Ukraine has got to be capable of overmatching Russia.
“Because Russia, even if it is forced into accepting a ceasefire, will absolutely, as sure as eggs is eggs, break that ceasefire.
“So any reassurance force has got to be capable of facing down Russia, and if necessary, being able to fight Russia. And this means serious capabilities, serious numbers, and a properly joined-up military organisation.”
Sir Richard was asked if he is saying that “thousands and thousands” of troops would not be able to be deployed elsewhere if required.
He replied, “Absolutely. I mean, if you think about the size of the frontline in Ukraine… the intervention force that was put into Kosovo by Nato in 1999, which was about 50,000, [and] Kosovo was a pocket-sized area compared to Ukraine.
“This requires serious numbers if it is to be effective.”
The Prime Minister has pledged the UK will spend 5% of GDP by 2035, Sir Richard said that Germany is the only country in Europe “putting any money into defence.”
Sir Richard added, “Western European countries, particularly this one [UK], ducks and weaves and avoids and talks only.”
The former defence secretary Sir Gavin Williamson told The Independent, “You are talking of at least 40,000 personnel, the equivalent of the army of the Rhine we had in Germany after the war. Of course, we cannot do that.
“We are talking about increasing the size of the army to 76,000 and we just do not have the personnel.”
