UK Foreign Secretary: the limp response to Russian intervention in Georgia can only have made the annexation of Crimea more likely

The weak response to Russian military aggression against Georgia in 2008 paved the way for the annexation of Crimea, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said yesterday while speaking at the US Institute of Peace.

“The seizure of Crimea in 2014 was the first time that territory has been annexed in Europe by the use of arms since 1945 but in fact it was not the Kremlin’s first territorial incursion in this century, which was the invasion of Georgia in 2008,” he said.

Hunt used his first official visit to the US as foreign secretary to urge Europe to impose tougher sanctions on Russia as the country “repeatedly flouts the established rules of international conduct”.

“Such aggressive and malign behaviour undermines the international order that keeps us safe. And of course we must engage with Moscow, but we must also be frank: Russia’s foreign policy under President Putin has made the world a more dangerous place,” Hunt said, adding that ‘the limp response’ to Russia’s intervention in Georgia in 2008 can only have made the 2014 annexation of Crimea more likely.

“Strengthening our credibility in support of a rules-based international order must become a central goal of foreign policy. Those who do not share our values need to know that there will always be a serious price to pay if red lines are crossed – whether territorial incursions, the use of banned weapons or, increasingly, cyber attacks. And part of that credibility comes from unity,” Hunt added.

After speaking about the united response from 28 allies to the use of chemical weapons in Salisbury, as a result of which 153 Russian diplomats were expelled from a number of countries, including 60 which were expelled from the United States, he called on UK allies to go further by calling on the European Union to ensure its sanctions against Russia are comprehensive.