British forces must prepare “to fight in Europe once again,” the new chief of the General Staff, General Patrick Sanders, said, according to a Sunday report from Sky News.
In a letter to his charges, Sanders, whose first day in the new role was June 13, claimed that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” underlined the UK troops’ “core purpose to protect the UK by being ready to fight and win wars on land.”
“There is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle,” the general wrote in his letter, cited across the British media.
He stressed that he is taking over his new responsibilities during a “new era of insecurity.” He also claimed to be the first chief of the General Staff since 1941 “to take command of the Army in the shadow of a land war in Europe involving a continental power.”
“We are the generation that must prepare the Army to fight in Europe once again,” Sanders claimed.
His remarks followed a stark warning by the country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson.