Mr Shapps urged the West to ramp up efforts to repel Russian invaders. (Image: Getty)
NATO allies will be in Vladimir Putin’s crosshairs if Russia is victorious in Ukraine, Grant Shapps has warned.
The Defence Secretary said the nightmare scenario would also signal to China that “everything is up for grabs” – putting global security at risk.
Mr Shapps stark warning came as he urged the West to ramp up efforts to repel Russian invaders from Ukraine.
“There’s no world in which Putin can be allowed to win,” he said.
“Not only would it embolden him, putting our other Eastern European allies in Russia’s crosshairs, but it would also signal to China that everything is up for grabs.”
“There can be no wavering. No fence-sitting. No waiting to see which way the wind blows. Putin believes the West can be worn down. He believes we lack strategic patience. And we must prove him wrong.”
Mr Shapps’ rallying cry, in an article for the Politico website, comes at the beginning of a hugely significant political year.
Nearly half of the world’s population will head to the polls in 2024 with multiple national elections being held, including the UK, USA and India.
“In this great year of democracy, Ukraine’s future is in the West’s hands. We cannot let them down,” the Defence secretary added.
To achieve this the Cabinet Secretary urged Western Allies to boost support for the war-stricken country.
The UK has been intensifying its efforts to aid Ukraine, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ramping up military support to £2.5 billion.
“The message couldn’t be clearer: The UK is in this for the long haul,” he said.
“But the message I’m sending my counterparts on the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group is that they too must take action.”
His call to arms came as the head of the Army said Britain should “train and equip” a “citizen army” to ready the country for a potential land war.
But General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff (CGS), said even that would be “not enough” as he pointed to allies in eastern and northern Europe “laying the foundations for national mobilisation”.
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In a speech on Wednesday, the military top brass said increasing Army numbers in preparation for a potential conflict would need to be a “whole-of-nation undertaking”.
The comments are being read as a warning that British men and women should be ready for a call-up to the armed forces if Nato goes to war with Russia.
In a speech last week Mr Shapps said the world is “moving from a post-war to pre-war world” and the UK must ensure its “entire defence ecosystem is ready” to defend its homeland.
But Downing Street ruled out any move towards a conscription model, saying that Army service would remain voluntary.
In his speech on Wednesday, Sir Patrick said Britain could not rely on its navy and air power, arguing “we must be able to credibly fight and win wars on land”.
He said: “We need an Army designed to expand rapidly to enable the first echelon, resource the second echelon and train and equip the citizen army that must follow.”
“Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough.”
“Our friends in eastern and northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.”
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“As the chairman of the Nato military committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done, preparing Sweden for entry to Nato, taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable but essential.”
“We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare — and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.”
“Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.”
Last week, a former chief of the general staff of the British Army said the UK risks a repeat of the 1930s unless more is invested in its armed forces.
General Lord Dannatt hit out at the shrinking size of the army, which he said has fallen from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today and is still “falling fast”.
He drew parallels with the 1930s when the “woeful” state of the UK’s armed forces failed to deter Adolf Hitler, saying there is “a serious danger of history repeating itself”.
Mr Shapps has insisted the size of the Army will not dip below 73,000 under the Conservatives.
He told Sky News on Sunday: “It’s not projected to go down to 50,000.
“It is actually, specifically, to 73,000 plus the reserves.”
