NATO allies were warned on Tuesday that the West was not ready to go to war with Russia amid repeated calls for Boris Johnson to significantly increase defense spending.
The warning came as the prime minister flew to Madrid for a key meeting of NATO leaders to agree on fundamental changes to NATO's security strategy following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday announced plans to increase the size of the coalition's rapid reaction force from 40,000 to 300,000 to strengthen Europe's eastern flank against Russia.
But General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former deputy supreme allied commander Europe, said it was a “long way” from being ready to engage in any direct conflict with Russia.
Sir Richard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We can't think about fighting a war until we're ready for it. NATO has come a long way and is ready for any kind of action against Russia. There is still a long way to go.”
Referring to the plan to increase the rapid reaction force, he added: "This is a massive strategic shift for NATO. I think the penny is finally starting to fall. The mentality of coalition members needs to change. At first glance, this is a Huge shift.
"But in terms of building forces to that level of readiness, it has profound implications for every NATO member ... there is a very, very big job to be done to ensure that NATO forces can maintain that level of readiness. "
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is expected to call for a sharp increase in UK defence spending from 2% of GDP to 2.5% in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank.
The new commander-in-chief of the British Army, General Patrick Sanders, said at the same event that the invasion of Ukraine was "our moment in 1937," referring to the run-up to World War II, and he called for the same to be done against Ukraine. British military readiness.
General Sanders said: "Never in the years I've been wearing the uniform have I caused so much damage to the principles of sovereignty and democracy and the freedom to live without fear of violence as President Putin's brutal aggression and his expansionist ambitions have. threaten."
"This is our moment in 1937. We are not at war - but we must act swiftly lest we be drawn into war by failing to contain territorial expansion. I will do everything in my power to ensure that the British Army does what it can. prevent war."
While Mr Johnson has made supporting Ukraine a priority, military chiefs want to see a reversal of the troop downsizing announced as part of last year's comprehensive defence review. Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the House of Commons defence committee, said the UK should increase spending to 3%.
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