On Wednesday, the UK reported that it was ready to install 1,000 more troops to aid Ukraine with any humanitarian crisis or other tensions, as Prime Minster Johnson moved towards NATO and Poland.
His Thursday visit coexisted with crisis talks in Moscow between British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as the UK and other US-led allies demand Russia to halt its threats against Ukraine.
During his meeting in Brussels with Jens Stoltenberg and the chief official of NATO, PM Johnson asserted that “As an alliance, we must draw lines in the snow and be clear there are principles upon which we will not compromise.”
“This includes the security of every NATO ally and the right of every European democracy to NATO membership,” he said, refusing Russian demands to deny Ukraine ever joining the alliance.
After completing his official meeting in Brussels, Johnson will head to Warsaw to meet Polish government officials, including President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and the UK military detachment members in the country, which is set to grow by 350 more troops.
Britain is nearly doubling its NATO deployment in Estonia, from 900 to 1,750, and has a smaller force in Ukraine for training on UK anti-tank missiles.
PM Johnson would also suggest that Britain is deploying more Royal Air Force jets in southern Europe and two Royal Navy vessels to the eastern Mediterranean.
In a show of solidarity, PM Johnson visited Kyiv last week; while asserting to Moscow, he added, “What we need to see is real diplomacy, not coercive diplomacy.”
Truss, meanwhile, is leading the UK charge on possible sanctions if Russia invades or intrudes on Ukraine, warning of “massive consequences” ahead of her talks Thursday with Lavrov.
The Russian foreign ministry retorted by calling for a “change in the tone” of British rhetoric.
