"Ukraine must not lose!" British Defense Minister calls for increased defense spending

The West cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war with Russia, because it would mean that the world will slide into an authoritarian era. Allowing dictators and autocrats to rule the world is extremely dangerous, which is why democratic countries should help Ukraine, no matter how much it costs them.

Western countries must also increase spending on their own defense, because without strong armies they may also lose their chances of prosperity and preserving their way of life. This was stated by British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps in an interview with The Sunday Times.

The official is convinced that Western democracies should provide Ukraine, which is confronting Russian aggression, with everything it needs to defeat Russia. After all, the battlefield in Ukraine decides not only the fate of Europe's largest country by territory, but also the future of the entire world, which is now on the brink of authoritarianism.

According to Shapps, the planet is facing the risk of "unknowingly entering an era where we allow dictatorial autocrats to prevail, and that is incredibly dangerous."

"Unfortunately, the world has to realize that we cannot stay with the (defense budgets) of the post-Cold War era. There are many countries, even G7 countries, that spend 1-2% of GDP on defense. We cannot ensure our prosperity and way of life by skimping on our basic defense (needs)," the head of the British defense establishment is convinced.

Shapps is also dissatisfied with defense spending in Britain: he considers it insufficient. And the government's plans to gradually increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP may need to be adjusted upward: Shapps previously assured that even spending 3% of the country's GDP could be too low.

"And I think the rest of the West will have to do the same... This is the reality of the much more dangerous world we live in. We have to clearly realize this. Supporting Ukraine is not charity," Shapps added.

According to the British minister, if the West allows Russia to defeat Ukraine in an aggressive war, the consequences of the aggressor state's triumph for the democratic world will be catastrophic. That is why, according to Shapps, no cost to help Ukraine will be too high.

"And the consequences will be incredibly difficult for Europe, for Britain, for the world. The reason why I say this is because we know what happens when dictators march through Europe... We know what happens when others look at weakness, or what they perceive as weakness, and it can have repercussions in the Indo-Pacific or elsewhere. So we literally can't afford not to win this war," the official concluded.

Earlier it became known that the EU and the US had found options for financing Ukraine, despite Hungary and Congress. The idea is to finance Ukraine's war with Russia at its own expense, i.e. by using the Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves placed in the West at the beginning of the invasion, which amount to about $300 billion.

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