British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has left a family holiday in Europe early, as he said it is “highly likely” Russia will launch an attack on Ukraine despite the ongoing diplomatic efforts to avert war.
Wallace said on Twitter on Sunday morning that he was returning from a planned long weekend abroad in Europe with his wife and children “because we are concerned about the worsening situation in Ukraine.”
He only started his holiday a day earlier, having arrived back in the UK from Moscow in the early hours of Saturday.
Senior British officials including then foreign secretary Dominic Raab were heavily criticised last August for going on holiday when the Taliban took over Afghan capital Kabul.
Raab later said he regretted not returning from his holiday. He was demoted to justice secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle a month later.
An estimated 130,000 Russian troops have been massed along Ukraine’s border, though Moscow has insisted it has no intention to invade.
Wallace said in an interview with the Sunday Times that Russian President Vladimir Putin could “launch an offensive at any time.”
“It may be that he just switches off his tanks and we all go home but there is a whiff of Munich in the air from some in the West,” he added.
The Munich Agreement was a 1938 agreement in which Britain and France allowed Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland. It was an act of appeasement but eventually failed to prevent the Second World War.
Ukrainian officials expressed unease over the reference to Munich as it appeared to be a criticism of the ongoing diplomatic push to prevent war.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, told the BBC that “it’s not the best time for us to offend our partners in the world.”
Prystaiko also warned that the panic being caused by the West in sounding the alarm could be playing into Putin’s hands.
“There’s panic everywhere not just in people’s minds but in financial markets as well,” he added, warning it is “hurting the Ukrainian economy.”
But government minister Brandon Lewis insisted Wallace was not criticising European allies with his Munich remark.
He said that the defence secretary was expressing concerns over the reality that “while they’re having these diplomatic conversations, Russia has continued to move troops.”
“We’ve got to be cognisant of the reality that they could move very quick,” said the Northern Ireland secretary told the BBC.
