UK plans to increase arms production for Ukraine and Western defense as Lord Cameron reveals his envoy will oversee ‘national priority’ | World News

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 stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, warning that the world is at an “absolutely critical turning point” and that kyiv must prevail or else Europe faces a “very dangerous future.”

However, he warned against an idea of French President Emmanuel Macron. consider sending NATO troops to Ukraine to join the fight if Russia Vladimir Putin makes a breakthrough, saying such a move would be a “dangerous escalation.”

“I don’t think it’s right for NATO soldiers to kill Russian soldiers,” the foreign minister said in an interview in the western city of Lviv on Friday, after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior ministers in kyiv on Thursday.

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Lord Cameron made the two-day trip to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to Ukrainewhich recently includes a promise to transfer more weapons stockpiles from the British Army, including precision-guided bombs and air defense missiles.

The UK has also pledged at least £3bn in military assistance a year.

But Western nations are failing to deliver ammunition to Ukraine’s front lines as quickly as Russia is rearming its military, and Russian troops have gained ground in the east in recent months.

President Putin put his economy on a war footing when he launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, something NATO allies are only slowly beginning to move toward.

Rishi Sunak said last week he would increase UK defense spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030, claiming this amounted to an extra £75bn in investment.

He also said he was putting the UK defense industry on a “war footing”, adding that £10bn of new funding would be dedicated to domestic ammunition production over the next decade.

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“We need to accumulate our own reserves”

When asked how Britain could force defense companies such as BAE Systems, Thales and Babcock – which have to answer to their shareholders, not the government – to ramp up production lines at the required pace and scale without some form 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 pound munitions strategy that will do exactly what you say: increase production,” he said.

“But fundamentally, I think we can go further in terms of a specific defense envoy with the ability of the prime minister to go out and make sure that we are making those multi-year agreements with defense suppliers because not only do we need to provide more sending weapons to Ukraine, we need to build up our own reserves.

“So this is very important, it’s a national priority.

“The Prime Minister is taking the lead and I think the industry will respond.”

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 for there to be no Lord Beaverbrook.”

But he noted that the envoy’s ability to approach industry with a commitment to fund multi-year contracts for ammunition would be key and could also reduce costs.

“You can go to defense contractors and say, ‘You’re not going to get the price you expected year after year because we’re going to contract with you for years to come.’ Sure. We replenish our ammunition, our artillery, our long-range fires, our missiles, things that are crucial and vital for Ukraine but also vital for our own defense.”

As to 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 make sure we are making this the national priority that it clearly is.”

Cameron warns of a ‘dangerous future’

Regarding the war in Ukraine, the foreign secretary said Europe faces “two futures”: one in which Ukrainian forces, backed by Western weapons, can drive out Russian invaders and secure what he called a “just peace.” “.

“That is a basis on which you can see great security and prosperity for us and for Europe,” he said.

But he warned: “I think a future where Putin is successful and Ukraine is rejected is a very dangerous future.”

Nations such as Moldova and even the Baltic NATO states would be concerned that President Putin might turn his attention to them next, Lord Cameron said.

Furthermore, the authoritarian regimes of Iran and China would be watching closely.

“I believe we are at an absolutely crucial turning point in global affairs,” added Lord Cameron.