Russia's presence in Ukraine could become 'cancerous growth,' says UK defence secretary

• Russia's presence in Ukraine could become a "cancerous growth," the UK defence secretary has warned.
• Ben Wallace said Putin's forces should be pushed out of Ukraine entirely – including the annexed Crimea.

Russia's presence in Ukraine could become a "cancerous growth" as Vladimir Putin looks to consolidate his position in the country, the UK's defence secretary has warned.

Speaking Thursday morning, Ben Wallace said the West must resist Russian efforts to hold onto those parts of Ukraine where they have a foothold, after failing to take the country outright.

Wallace, who is increasingly being talked up as a potential successor to Boris Johnson, said Putin's forces should be forced out of Ukrainian territory entirely, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

He told Sky News: "It's certainly the case that Putin, having failed in nearly all of his objectives, may seek to consolidate what he's got. Sort of fortify and dig in as he did in 2014, and just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country of Ukraine and make it very hard for people to move them out of those fortified positions.

"If we want this to not happen, we have to help Ukraine try to get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back."

Wallace added: "The international community believes Russia should leave Ukraine. The international community condemned Russia for its invasion of Crimea, which was illegal in 2014, [and] its invasion of Donetsk. We've constantly said that Russia should leave Ukraine sovereign territory, so that hasn't changed."

But he conceded there was "a long way to go" before Ukraine could take Crimea back.

"First and foremost, let's get Russia out of where they are now in its invasion plans," he added. "The key thing here is to continue to support Ukraine's sovereign integrity and their ability to defend themselves."

Speaking later to the BBC, Wallace reiterated the UK government's position that it was "legitimate under international law" for Ukraine to target locations being used for "logistics infrastructure" in Russian territory, and that he was comfortable with British-supplied weapons being used.

"It is certainly the case that Britain is assisting and finding artillery for Ukraine, which it is mainly using within Ukraine on Russian forces," he said.

His comments echo those made earlier this week by James Heappey, a junior defence minister, who rubbished the Kremlin's claims that NATO was fighting a proxy war with Russia.

Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said Wednesday that "if Putin succeeds there will be untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe."

Branding the Russian President a "desperate rogue operator with no interest in international norms," the minister said what was happening Ukraine was "everyone's war" because of the wider implications it carried.

She added: "Some argue we shouldn't provide heavy weapons for fear of provoking something worse. But my view, is that inaction would be the greatest provocation."