The incoming commander of the British Army has reportedly told his troops to prepare to fight a land war in Europe, citing Russia as a significant threat to peace on the continent.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the British Army’s newly appointed overall commander, is said to have told his troops to prepare for potential deployment in Europe in order to counter the threat of Russia.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, General Sanders — who only assumed full command of the UK’s army last week — told his troops that they are now facing the possibility of having to fight a war on the European continent, an eventuality that they now have to be prepared for.
“I am the first Chief of the General Staff since 1941 to take command of the Army in the shadow of a land war in Europe involving a continental power,” the senior army officer reportedly wrote.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines our core purpose – to protect the UK by being ready to fight and win wars on land,” he continued. “It is my singular duty to make our Army as lethal and effective as it can be.”
“We are the generation that must prepare the Army to fight in Europe once again,” Sanders is also reported as saying. “There is now a burning imperative to forge an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle.”
The incoming commander’s comments come as leaders across the Western world steady themselves and their nations for what now looks like it could be a long war, with the chief of NATO telling German publication Bild that the current conflict in Ukraine could last years.
“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the publication.
“We must not stop supporting Ukraine,” he went on to claim. “Even if the costs are high, not only for military support but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
Following another trip to Kyiv this week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson seemed to reiterate this call for unconditional support in an opinion piece published by The Times over the weekend, with the premier suggesting that allowing Putin to win in Ukraine would make the world a more dangerous place.
“Suppose [Putin] was free to keep all the areas of Ukraine now controlled by Russian forces,” Johnson posited. “Would this bring peace? Would the world be safer? Would you be safer? In our hearts, we know the answer. Such a travesty would be the greatest victory for aggression in Europe since the Second World War.”
“Meanwhile, across the world, every dictator would feel emboldened to pursue their own ambitions by force — and no nation anywhere would be safe,” he went on to claim. “Is that really what anyone in any country would want?”
Johnson concluded his article with a call for Western nations to continue supporting Ukraine, both militarily and financially, although how popular this rallying cry will be in the midst of a crippling cost of living crisis remains to be seen.
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