LONDON, Feb 11: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday confirmed that a further 350 British troops have landed in Poland as tensions around Ukraine continue to escalate. "Earlier today the UK's 45 Commando Unit touched down in Poland," Johnson said after meeting with his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Warsaw.

On Monday, UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace had announced that the UK will send 350 troops to Poland that will add to the 150 British military engineers that were deployed last year during the migrant crisis at the Polish-Belarussian border. According to Johnson, the newly-arrived forces will also join the 150 British military who contribute to NATO's enhance Forward Presence in Poland.

"The reason I'm here is because Poland is absolutely critical to our collective European security and the lesson of the last 100 years is that when Poland is threatened with instability, or aggression on the borders of Poland, then we are all threatened and we're all affected," the prime minister said.

Johnson travelled to Warsaw from Brussels, where he discussed the situation around Ukraine with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The situation regarding Ukraine have worsened in recent weeks with Washington, London and other NATO allies raising concerns about Russia's military build-up at the Ukraine border, saying Moscow is preparing an invasion.

The European Union has also expressed concerns about possible disruption of Russia's energy supplies to Europe in the event of escalation. Russia has said it has no plans to attack any country, including Ukraine, but has warned that NATO's plans to expand further eastward represent a threat to its national security. Russia has also said it reserves the right to move troops on its sovereign territory as it sees fit.

(ANI)

 
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