UK to send 350 more troops to Poland in ‘spirit of solidarity’ as Russia tensions rise

The troops will be added to the 100 British armed forces already in Poland

It comes as US troops arrived in Poland on Sunday (Reuters)

Defence secretary Ben Wallace says the UK will send 350 further troops to Poland in the “spirit of solidarity” as tensions build between Russia and Ukraine.

In a press conference with Polish minister for national defence Mariusz Błaszczak, Mr Wallace confirmed that the UK would add to the 100 troops originally sent to Poland in November during Poland’s border crisis with Belarus.

“In that spirit of solidarity and helping share each other’s challenges of resiliences we will add to those 100 Royal Engineers by sending a further 350 British troops to Poland in a bilateral deployment to show that we can work together and send a strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side,” he said.

“Thank you very much for this proposal from Ben Wallace, the UK defence minister to send those additional 350 troops to reinforce the 100 troops already in Poland they will cooperate with the Polish armed forces on increasing the security especially against the threat on the border,” Mr Błaszczak said in response.

It comes as US president Joe Biden offered 3,000 American forces to bolster Nato’s eastern flank, with a batch of the troops promised arriving in Poland on Sunday.

Last month Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said it is “very unlikely” British soldiers would be deployed to fight in any conflict.

Instead, she said the UK was sending weapons to Ukraine and “strengthening” its sanction system so oligarchs close to the Kremlin had “nowhere to hide”.

French president Emmanuel Macron is set to hold talks in Moscow on Monday in a bid to help de-escalate the tense situation around Ukraine.

Russia has amassed an estimated more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, fuelling Western fears that an invasion could be imminent. The White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day,” triggering a conflict that would come at an “enormous human cost.”

US officials have also claimed Moscow has assembled 70 per cent of the military firepower needed for a full invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Macron, who is set to meet in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, before visiting Ukraine on Tuesday, said he thinks a deal to avoid a full scale war is possible and that it is legitimate for Russia to raise its own security concerns.

“We must protect our European brothers by proposing a new balance capable of preserving their sovereignty and peace,” he said.

“This must be done while respecting Russia and understanding the contemporary traumas of this great people and great nation.”