The new head of the British Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, has sent a letter to his troops warning that they must now be prepared to “fight in Europe”. The Army must prepare “to protect the UK and to be ready to fight wars on land”. There is, he wrote, “a burning imperative to forge an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle”.
As if on cue, Moscow has threatened Lithuania over its ban on goods entering the exclave of Kaliningrad under EU sanctions. “Russia reserves the right to take actions in its national interests,” an official declared. This a direct threat against a member of both Nato and the EU. Britain would be bound to respond to a direct attack on a Nato ally under Article Five of Nato’s founding charter, which stresses mutual defence by every member as an obligation.
