Former UK army chief says giving further lethal aid to Ukraine risks escalating war

Lord Houghton of Richmond said more lethal aid would both fuel and prolong the conflict

Ukrainian soldiers inspect destroyed Russian military machinery in the areas recaptured by the Ukrainian army in the city of Bucha on April 3, 2022. EPA

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Providing further lethal aid to Ukraine risks prolonging and escalating the conflict, a former UK chief of the defence staff has said.

Independent Lord Houghton of Richmond, who was chief of the defence staff between 2013 and 2016, said the British government faces a “difficult choice” as the House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, discussed the potential for the government to send more weapons to the country.

“The question illuminates a difficult choice for government. The war in Ukraine by military definition remains limited. It’s limited in strategic aim, in geography, and means employed. Injecting greater lethal aid into that war is unlikely to be decisive. Indeed far from it; it runs two very severe risks,” said Lord Houghton, speaking during a session of questions in the upper chamber.

“One is the risk of prolongation, and the other is the risk of escalation. The way to eliminate those risks can only be through dialogue.”

Defence minister Baroness Goldie said the question fell under the responsibility of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, but that an FCDO minister had recently told the House that “although normalisation of relationship with Russia is not possible at the moment, robust diplomatic engagement is necessary”.

“I can reassure the noble and gallant Lord that Ministry of Defence is regularly in dialogue not just with our defence allies and partners, whether within Nato or outwith [outside], but also, of course, with the armed forces of Ukraine,” said Lady Goldie.

In the courtyard of their house, Vlad Tanyuk, 6, stands near the grave of his mother Ira Tanyuk, who died because of starvation and stress due to the war, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A Ukrainian soldier walks with children passing destroyed cars due to the war against Russia, in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surveys the destruction in Bucha. AFP

Residential buildings damaged during fighting in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

A bridge damaged by shelling in Bucha. EPA

A soldier stationed in Bucha, after the city was the recaptured by the Ukrainian army. EPA

Chervona Voloshin kisses Varvara Statenova goodbye as she heads home to Kyiv after being housed at a shelter for displaced people in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

Parts of a destroyed aircraft at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A Ukrainian territorial defence serviceman walks past a destroyed Russian armoured personnel carrier in the town of Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

Tanya Nedashkivska recounts how her husband Vasyl Ivanovych, who served in Ukraine’s navy, was killed by Russian soldiers, in Bucha, Ukraine. He was arrested by Russian soldiers. Tanya looked for him for days and found him in a building's basement where two bodies were lying. She recognised him by his shoes and trousers. AP

Damaged residential buildings in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

Families arrive to board a train at Kramatorsk central station as they flee the eastern city, in the Donbas region. AFP

Romanian politicians listen to President Zelenskyy’s speech by video link, on a screen in the parliament in Bucharest. AP

The remains of a Russian Su-35 aircraft that was hit by the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv. Reuters

A damaged monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in the besieged city of Mariupol, southern Ukraine. Reuters

A man removes a door covering the opening to an underground concrete enclosure in which bodies of civilians killed by Russian forces, residents say, were dumped as people were unable to transport them to a cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier tries to convince a puppy to drink milk as residents wait for distribution of food products in Motyzhyn, Ukraine, which was until recently under the control of the Russian military. AP

The pain of war is evident as women wait for food aid in the village of Motyzhyn. AP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on screen during the 64th Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. AFP

The gutted interior of a theatre in central Mariupol, destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict. Reuters

Desolation in Mariupol which has suffered intense bombardment. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier walks in front of the remains of an Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world's biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian troops at an airfield in the city of Hostomel, in the Kyiv region. Reuters

A local woman salutes Ukrainian soldiers in the Chernihiv region. Reuters

A woman hugs a Ukrainian soldier after a convoy of military and aid vehicles arrived in the formerly Russian-occupied town of Bucha, near Kyiv. AP

Smoke rises after an attack by Russian forces in Odesa. AFP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presents an award to an injured Ukrainian service member at a military hospital in Kyiv. Reuters

A destroyed building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. AFP

People, mainly women and children, pass through the Medyka border crossing on their journey out of Ukraine and into Poland. Getty

Conservative peer Lord Bellingham, opening the debate, said: “Now the Ukrainian forces are moving on to the offensive in some sectors, counter-attacking, the time has come to supply them with more equipment, heavy equipment, including armoured fighting vehicles, artillery, and maybe anti-ship missiles.

Lady Goldie responded: “We constantly review the situation. The noble Lord will be aware that we had the second international defence donor conference, and I can confirm we will continue to give humanitarian and military support.

“We have offered to conduct logistics operations to support the delivery of donations from partner nations, and we set that out at the first donor conference. We constantly assess, review, we listen to what Ukraine is telling us, what they want, and we assess these requests.”