LONDON, May 26. /TASS/. UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Liz Truss is confident that there should be no "appeasement" of Russia and is ready to work relentlessly for the sake of Ukrainian victory thanks to military aid and sanctions pressure on Moscow. She will mention this in her speech in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday.
"Russia’s aggression cannot be appeased. It must be met with strength," her address, made public by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, notes.
"We must not allow a prolonged and increasingly painful conflict to develop in Ukraine," Truss thinks. "We must be relentless in ensuring Ukraine prevails through military aid and sanctions. We can’t take our foot off the accelerator now," according to her remarks.
It is noted that during her tour, Truss will also "re-affirm the UK’s commitment to peace and stability in the Western Balkans, announcing UK plans to deepen its security and economic partnership with BiH," by directing $100 mln of UK-backed investment to the Western Balkans by 2025. According to her speech, "Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future lies in sovereignty and self-determination, in greater partnership with NATO and countries like the UK."
On May 27, the UK top diplomat will travel to the Czech Republic to meet with her Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky. The Foreign Office’s statement notes that in Prague, Truss will urge allies "to work together on a new Marshall Plan for Ukraine, ensuring the country’s speedy reconstruction." It is also expected that a statement of intent to agree a Strategic Bilateral Framework between the UK and Czech Republic will be signed. It should allow both countries to "work more closely together in a number of areas, including security cooperation, trade, science & innovation and climate."
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Following this, the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other countries announced the introduction of sanctions against Russian legal entities and private individuals.