The UK will appoint a new envoy to oversee a plan to increase arms and ammunition production, which is now a “national priority”, the Foreign Secretary has revealed.
Lord Cameron, speaking during a visit to Ukraine, he also highlighted the importance of supporting the Ukrainian war effort against Russia, warning that the world is at an “absolutely critical turning point” and that Kiev must prevail or else Europe will face a “very dangerous future”.
However, he warned against an idea French President Emmanuel Macron consider sending NATO troops to Ukraine to join the fight if Russia Vladimir Putin gets a breakthrough, saying that such a move would be a “dangerous escalation”.
“I don’t think it’s right for NATO soldiers to kill Russian soldiers,” the Foreign Secretary said in an interview on Friday in the western city of Lviv, after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other ministers. important events in Kiev on Thursday.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with Lord Cameron this week. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP
Lord Cameron made the two-day trip to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to Ukrainewhich more recently includes a promise to transfer more of the British military’s own weapons arsenals, including precision-guided bombs and air defense missiles.
The UK has also pledged at least £3 billion in military assistance annually.
But Western nations are unable to deliver ammunition to Ukraine’s front line as quickly as Russia is rearming its military, with Russian troops gaining ground in the east in recent months.
Lord Cameron said a new PM envoy would aim to boost defense production
President Putin put his economy on a war footing when he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – something NATO allies are only slowly beginning to move towards.
Rishi Sunak said last week he would increase UK defense spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030 – claiming this would equate to an additional investment of £75 billion.
He also said he was putting the UK defense industry in a “war position” and added that £10 billion in new funding would be dedicated to domestic munitions production over the next decade.
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Lord Cameron met with the mayor of Lviv during his visit to Ukraine
‘We need to build our own stocks’
Asked how Britain could force defense companies such as BAE Systems, Thales and Babcock – which have to answer to their shareholders rather than the government – to ramp up production lines at the required rate and scale without some of legislation to force them to act, Lord Cameron revealed the plan for a new envoy for defense production.
“There is a specific £10 billion munitions strategy that will do exactly what you are talking about – increase production,” he said.
“But fundamentally, I think we can go further than that in terms of a specific defense envoy with the ability of the prime minister to go out and make sure that we’re getting those multi-year deals in place with the defense providers, because we need to not only To supply more weapons to Ukraine, we need to create our own stockpiles.
“So this is very important, it is a national priority.
“The Prime Minister is leading and I think the industry will respond.”
Lord Cameron said a new PM envoy would aim to boost defense production
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Asked whether the new envoy – whose identity has not yet been revealed – would be the modern equivalent of someone like Lord Beaverbrook, who was tasked with expanding aircraft production during the Second World War, Lord Cameron said: “It’s the 21st century, so there will be no Lord Beaverbrook.”
But he signaled that the envoy’s ability to approach the industry with a commitment to funding multi-year contracts for munitions would be key — and could also reduce costs.
“You can go to defense contractors and tell them, ‘You’re not going to get the price you expected year after year after year, because we’re going to contract with you over the next few years to make sure we replenish our munitions, our artillery. , our long-duration fires, our missiles’ – these crucial things, vital to Ukraine, but also vital to our own defense.”
As for why the government needed to appoint a specific envoy for this role, Lord Cameron said: “I think it is necessary to have that direct line to the Prime Minister to ensure that we are making this the national priority that it clearly is.”
Cameron warns of “dangerous future”
Turning to the war in Ukraine, the Foreign Secretary said Europe faces “two futures” – one in which Ukrainian forces, backed by Western weapons, will be able to expel the Russian invaders and secure what he called “ just peace.”
“This is a basis on which we can see great security and prosperity for ourselves and for Europe,” he said.
But he warned: “A future in which Putin is successful and Ukraine is set back is, I think, a very dangerous future.”
Nations such as Moldova and even NATO’s Baltic states would be worried that President Putin would turn his attention to them next, Lord Cameron said.
Furthermore, the authoritarian regimes of Iran and China would be watching closely.
“I think we are at an absolutely crucial turning point in global affairs,” added Lord Cameron.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
