London, Feb 8 (Agency) The UK is considering deploying Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe and reinforce the British battlegroup in Estonia, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “We are considering deploying RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to protect southeastern Europe,” Johnson wrote to The Times on Monday. The West will do more to help Ukraine defend itself, Johnson added, noting that the UK is preparing to reinforce the British-led NATO battlegroup in Estonia. “NATO allies are agreed that we are willing to send more forces to guarantee the security of our allies on the eastern flank.
The foreign ministers of Latvia and Estonia have called for extra support due to the Russian military build-up in Belarus. We stand ready to provide it,” Johnson said. In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia replied that it has no intention of invading Ukraine while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory. Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO military activity near its borders and ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow is not excluding that the “hysteria” around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev’s plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas.