Boris Johnson revealed tonight that Vladimir Putin has made more than 30 nuclear war threats since his invasion of Ukraine, as the Prime Minister vowed to increase defence spending to counter Russia’s aggression.
At the conclusion of the NATO summit in Madrid, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defence by the end of the decade.
Mr Johnson insisted that budgets will soar far above the alliance’s 2% target in the coming years as the government ‘invests for the long term’ in response to Russia’s threat.
The PM later revealed the extent of Mr Putin’s ‘sabre-rattling,’ but warned against dragging the West into the Russian President’s depiction of a ‘Russia versus NATO’ conflict.
Sir Kim Darroch, Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, warned this week that NATO must be prepared for a nuclear strike by Russia.
Asked how many nuclear threats there had been from Mr Putin since the start of the Ukraine war, the PM told LBC Radio: ‘Well, there’s an analysis that I think has been done by somebody recently, a think tank.
‘They’re looking at about 35 mentions, or perhaps it’s a little bit more now, of that issue.’
But, speaking to the station’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast show, Mr Johnson stressed it was ‘very, very important that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be side-tracked by this kind of sabre-rattling, because fundamentally, what Putin is trying to do is to reframe this’.
‘It’s about Russia versus NATO. It’s about, you know, a stand-off of that kind,’ he added.
‘It’s not. It’s about his attack on an entirely innocent country, with conventional weapons, with artillery, bombardments with planes, shells and so on.
‘And it’s about the Ukrainians’ right to protect themselves. That is what this is about.’
The PM’s proposed increase in defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP would be equivalent to around £10 billion more in today’s prices by 2030, with experts warning that it may necessitate further tax increases to meet the commitment.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts for the size of the economy, there will be an additional £55.1 billion in spending over the next decade.
However, Mr Johnson still faced questions over why the size of the army is being trimmed, arguing that the priority was ‘to have armed services that are brilliantly equipped’.
The PM said: ‘We need to invest for the long-term in vital capabilities like future combat air whilst simultaneously adapting to a more dangerous and more competitive world.
‘The logical conclusion of the investments on which we propose to embark, these decisions, is that we’ll reach 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by the end of the decade.’
Mr Johnson described the NATO alliance as ‘united’ and in ‘robust health’ as the Madrid summit drew to a close.
He told a press conference: ‘The NATO alliance is plainly in robust health and getting stronger, with new members and a new purpose.
‘We can see that our work is cut out…
‘If history is any guide, then I believe that this great alliance will again be successful.’
Despite the spending commitment, Mr Johnson is on the verge of abandoning a Tory manifesto pledge.
A senior Government source has acknowledged that the 2019 promise to increase budgets by 0.5 percentage points above inflation might have to be abandoned.
The source pointed out that the public finances had been battered by Covid and inflation is set to hit 11 per cent this year.
‘The intention is always to honour manifesto commitments but they were made before £400 billion was spent coping with a global pandemic that none could have possibly foreseen,’ the source said.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has stepped up calls for increased military spending to counter Russia’s threat.
At an RUSI think-tank event, he warned that defence can no longer exist on a ‘diet of smoke and mirrors,’ pointing out that ministers had been acting like ‘corporate raiders’ for decades as they diverted money to the NHS and other services.
Tobias Ellwood, a senior Tory MP, said that committing to increasing spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by the end of the decade is ‘too little, too late.’
The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee tweeted: ‘This is NOT the time to cut the Army by 10,000.
‘And moving to 2.5% defence spend by 2030 is too little too late.’
The PM’s full interview will be broadcast tomorrow from 7am on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast