Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss' speech at the Atlantic Council's annual Makins lecture

Introduction

In the late1990s I worked for Shell, and one of my first assignments was just south of here on the Chesapeake in Norfolk, Virginia.

I was overseeing the refurbishment of two LNG vessels that had been mothballed due to a lack of demand. Back then we were modelling oil prices at $10 a barrel – today it is heading towards $200.

It feels like a different world.

We thought energy crises, expansionism and geopolitical strife were behind us. Across the west, we thought the spread of peace and stability was inevitable – not something to work at and invest in.

Now those illusions have been shattered.

We are paying the price for those years of complacency.

Russia built its capabilities in plain sight, violating its commitments and acting with near impunity – in Georgia, Crimea and beyond.

We knew what Putin was doing. We had the intelligence…  but actually we didn’t need it, because Putin announced his designs on Ukraine in public. He set his plans down in black and white and put them up on the Kremlin’s website. But still we didn’t want to believe it.

Well, we believe it now. The world has woken up. The era of complacency is over.

We must rise to this moment.

We must pledge that never again will we allow such aggression to grow unchecked.

That means acting now. It means being tough – because we know that the costs will only rise if we don’t.

The public understand the gravity of this moment.

They see the terrible suffering caused by this pre-planned, barbaric and illegal invasion against a European democracy and they recognise that the world has changed.

Putin has launched a full-frontal assault not just on the Ukrainian people, but also on the very foundation of our societies and the rules by which we coexist – sovereignty, democracy, the UN Charter. He has shaken the architecture of global security.

The invasion of Ukraine is a paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11.

How we respond today will set the pattern for this new era.

If we let Putin’s expansionism go unchallenged it would send a dangerous message to would-be aggressors and authoritarians around the world. We can’t allow that to happen.

We must start with the principle that the only thing aggressors understand is strength…  and we must start by working together to stop Putin’s offensive in Ukraine.

Global response

Putin thought his tanks would roll into Kyiv at will. Instead, he has faced organised, tenacious and formidable resistance.

At Hostomel Airport, Kharkiv, Mariupol and beyond, new chapters have been written in the history of valour. I pay tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian people and to President Zelensky’s remarkable leadership.

Putin also expected the world to be slow and divided.

Instead, he has been met with a resurgence of political unity and strength.

In the UN General Assembly 141 countries voted to condemn Russia’s actions.

Putin’s only supporters were Syria, Eritrea, Belarus and North Korea.

Never did we think the great nation of Russia would be reduced to this – aside from Eritrea, its only allies are now a vassal state, a rogue state, and a war criminal.

Putin is shunned and isolated. He has made his country a global pariah.

Support for Ukraine

As things get even tougher in Ukraine, we will keep increasing our support.

The UK was the first European country to send lethal military aid to Ukraine and we are Ukraine’s top humanitarian donor.

The US, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the EU and others are also stepping up.

Our coordinated sanctions response has been unprecedented and overwhelming – cutting off funding for Putin’s war machine and putting him under growing pressure at home.

It has been a global effort. Even Switzerland has put aside its historic neutrality. Singapore has imposed bilateral sanctions for the first time since the 1970s.

In the UK we have put in place the toughest package of sanctions in our history, hitting 228 individuals, entities and subsidiaries, including Putin himself. We have hit £258 billion in Russian bank assets – more than any other nation. And this week we changed UK law to allow us to take even tougher action against oligarchs and others around Putin.

Doubling down

It has been a phenomenal, united effort. We have done a huge amount. But let me be clear – we are not doing enough.

We must double down and ramp up the global pressure on Putin.

We must go further on sanctions to keep tightening the vice – including a full SWIFT ban, freezing all Russian banking assets, and encouraging more countries to join the effort. We want a situation where they can’t access their funds, they can’t clear their payments, their trade can’t flow, their ships can’t dock and their planes can’t land.

We must work together to ensure justice is done at the ICC and Putin is held to account for his actions. And we must do more to deliver defensive weapons and respond to the growing humanitarian emergency.

We will do all of this. And we will shape this new era for global security.

If we are to persuade Putin and future Putins that we’re serious, then we need to do things differently.

Tackling Strategic Dependence

First, we must end the strategic dependence which puts our economies and security at the mercy of malign actors.

Europe remains deeply reliant on Russian energy. This provides a vital source of revenue for Putin – so it must end.

Together with the US we have announced that we will phase out Russian oil imports.

I welcome the EU’s plan to cut its imports of Russian gas by two thirds this year.

We are working on a G7-wide timeline to cut this dependence once and for all.

We should put a ceiling on the percentage of Russian energy imports. We should commit to bringing them down over time. And we should look at potential compensation for countries that are especially dependent on Russian energy.

This will require a shared commitment. It will require greater investment in new energy infrastructure and for producers to be willing to export more. I welcome President Biden’s commitment to release 30 million barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

We should also be exploring other possible areas of dependence.

Whether it’s minerals or rare earth metals, we should work to prevent future problems before they emerge.

Building Deterrence

Second, we must strengthen our deterrence.

In the UK we significantly increased our defence spending last year, recognising Russia as the most acute threat. We are NATO’s biggest contributor in Europe. And we are doubling the numbers of UK troops in Estonia and Poland.

The US is also leading the way. And others are stepping up. I welcome Germany’s historic decision to up its military spending.

But the fact is that we all need to go further.

Many countries still do not meet the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

And let’s be clear – that’s a minimum target. In the Cold War we were spending far more – upwards of 5%.

We should be ready to do whatever it takes to respond to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

We must redouble our efforts to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.

We must support non-NATO countries that could be the next target of Putin’s aggression – like our friends in the Caucuses and the Western Balkans.

And we must deepen our security partnerships in other areas - like AUKUS, our trilateral partnership with Australia, or our work with Canada and others to boost security in the Arctic Circle. 

We also need to ensure that the global security architecture is fit for this new era.

We must take the lead in brokering a new global consensus where the rules are weakest – in tech, space and cyber space. We must to recommit to arms control. And we must take a more global approach to reflect the realities of today.

We don’t know where the next threat may arise - and we know that conflict anywhere threats security everywhere.

China looms large over this debate. Beijing is increasing its assertiveness and expanding its armed forces at breakneck speed.

They claim a policy of non-interference. They claim to respect sovereignty and have refused to support Russia’s aggression in the UN. We want to see them follow through on those claims.

Stronger Alliances

Third, we need to develop stronger alliances around the world.

The UK is deepening our global economic, diplomatic and security ties. The entire free world needs to reach out.

We are rallying those 141 countries that voted to condemn Russia’s actions in the UN and persuading those that abstained to toughen their resolve.

We should be drawing more countries into the orbit of those who are prepared to stand up for sovereignty.

In the past we have sometimes neglected the strategic importance of some countries – including some partners in the Indo-Pacific, Africa and the Gulf.

They want alternatives to working with authoritarian regimes who load their balance sheets with debt. So we must provide that alternative through British International Investment and America’s initiative, Build Back Better World.

And we shouldn’t let anything detract from our unity.

That is why we must work with EU to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

We share a deep commitment to peace in Northern Ireland and the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. At present the Northern Ireland Protocol is creating an imbalance between communities. The protocol must support the Good Friday Agreement and protect east-west ties as well as north-south… Not because one is worth more than the other, but because both are essential to peace. 

The UK will always act to protect our sovereignty and the union – while also working closely with our allies.

A stronger west

Our aim is to make the world safe for freedom and democracy.

The transatlantic relationship is vital here.

Britain and America have always been at the centre of global security – at the centre of a strong G7 with our friends in the EU, Canada, and Japan.

We stand together to face down aggression around the world – from the South China Sea to Eastern Europe.

President Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson are seized of this task.

That’s why in Cornwall last year, they signed the New Atlantic Charter.

They promised to renew the architecture of international cooperation for the 21st century. And they pledged to stand up for democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Putin should take note.

Conclusion

We will not rest until he fails in Ukraine and the country’s sovereignty is restored.

Putin must lose, because the consequences if he doesn’t would be huge.

So we will keep strengthening our response…  replacing doubt with determination…  complacency with conviction. We will never let our guard down again.

We will be tough…  not because we want conflict, but because we want to prevent it.

Be tough, get peace.

In this new era for global security, let that be our rallying call.

Thank you.