The outcome of the war in Ukraine is “in the balance”, Dominic Raab has warned as he called on the international community to do all it can to ensure Russia is defeated.
The deputy prime minister said the West must show “strategic stamina and staying power” as he claimed the conflict will last for months to come.
He also revealed he had held further talks with the international criminal court and said Russian generals should be in no doubt that they will end up “behind bars” if they commit war crimes.
Raab made his comments as foreign secretary Liz Truss prepares to make a keynote speech in which she will call on western nations to increase defence spending and supply tanks and warplanes to Kyiv.
Speaking to Sky News, Raab said: “We want to show maximum solidarity to Ukraine but it’s clear that the conflict is in the balance.
“I’ve said since the first time I came on Sky News I didn’t think it would be over in weeks, possibly not even months, so we need the strategic stamina and staying power and I think the prime minister is very conscious of that.”
Raab’s comments echo those due to be made by Truss in her speech at the Mansion House in the City of London tonight.
“We cannot be complacent – the fate of Ukraine remains in the balance,” she will say.
“And let’s be clear – if Putin succeeds there will be untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe. We would never feel safe again.
“So we must be prepared for the long haul and double down on our support for Ukraine.
“Heavy weapons, tanks, aeroplanes – digging deep into our inventories, ramping up production. We need to do all of this.”
Truss will also call on western nations to spend more money on defence, insisting NATO’s target of two per cent of GDP should be “a floor, not a ceiling”.
The UK and its allies must “reboot, recast and remodel our approach to deterring aggressors” and the war in Ukraine “has to be a catalyst for wider change”, she will say.
“Our new approach will be based on three areas: military strength, economic security and deeper global alliances.
“I want to live in a world where free nations are assertive and in the ascendant… where freedom and democracy are strengthened through a network of economic and security partnerships… where aggressors are contained and moving toward a better path.
“This is the long-term prize: a new era of peace, security and prosperity.”