Putin still has “brutality in his back pocket”

Ben Wallace, the British defence secretary, warned today that Vladimir Putin still has “brutality” in his back pocket in his efforts to win the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at The Defence of Europe conference, co-hosted by Reaction and King’s College London, Wallace said that while Russia’s “battle-winning components” of technology, leadership and intelligence had all failed, there is one component he still has in his back pocket, which we should really worry about, which is brutality.

“If you win your war by killing, murdering, raping, bombing civilian territories, breaching all human rights, all Geneva Conventions, corruption, and that becomes the battle-winning component, the message that sends around the world to other adversaries around the world is incredibly dangerous.

“That you don’t need to have all the best kit or the best training or appropriate rule of law, you just need to be able to be more brutal than the other person and more prepared to destroy everything in your path.”

Wallace was joined at the conference debating the future of European security by Ukraine’s ambassador, Vadim Prystaiko, who told guests that the  best way out of the war waged by Russia is “if Ukraine wins militarily”.

Prystaiko added that defeating Putin in the “fields of war” may ultimately be better for Russians themselves. “If you allow yourself… the idea that actually Russia can be defeated on the fields of war, you will allow yourself to think and find a way what to do, maybe it would be even better for Russians themselves,” he said.

“If you allow yourself… the idea that actually Russia can be defeated on the fields of war, you will allow yourself to think and find a way what to do, maybe it would be even better for Russians themselves,” he said.

On the thorny issue of Ukraine’s future alliances, Prystaiko confirmed the country is still seeking EU membership but that its proposals did not envisage joining NATO. He added that Russia should be forced to pay reparations for the damage it has inflicted on the nation and the cost should not fall to western taxpayers.

Opinion was divided on the effectiveness of sanctions with some speakers arguing that only a full embargo of Russian oil and gas would have any realistic impact on Putin’s behaviour. Others disagree. Indeed, Dr Martin Navias, King’s fellow and legal expert, said sanctions have shown to be largely irrelevant in stopping the war and, in the medium-tdo erm, will only strengthen Putin’s regime. 

But as Navias pointed out, the key to sanctions is deciding what we want them to achieve – and articulating it clearly to Moscow. “Are we trying to punish the Russian people, to affect regime change?

Which is why, ironically, sanctions may have some impact over the longer-term when the two sides do sit down at the negotiating table. That’s when the bartering begins.