Russia risks becoming embroiled in a terrible quagmire if it invades Ukraine: UK

Russia is at risk of becoming embroiled in a terrible quagmire if it invades Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned on Friday, raising the spectre of a prolonged, bloody and sapping conflict for Moscow.

In a speech in Australia, the UK's top diplomat issued a blunt and personal warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is on the brink of making a major strategic blunder.

Truss told Sydney's Lowy Institute that he has not learned the lessons of history, and urged Putin to desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a huge strategic mistake. She said that Russia's past conflicts that cost hundreds of thousands of lives will only lead to a terrible quagmire and loss of life.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are massed on Ukraine's border, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles.

The White House believes that an attack could come at any point, and the drumbeat of invasion has been growing for months. Few military experts believe that Kyiv's smaller forces, although rapidly modernising, could repel an outright Russian invasion.

Truss stressed the risks for the Kremlin even if it has the military upper hand, suggesting a protracted Ukrainian resistance that ensnares Russian forces.

She said that the Ukrainians will fight this, and she said that it could be a quagmire.

Ukraine is a proud country with a long history. They have known invading forces before from the Mongols to the Tartars. Their resilience runs deep. If they have to, Ukrainians will fight to defend their country. Russia has inflicted pressure on Ukraine since an uprising nearly a decade ago, toppled a government that had resisted calls to move closer to the West.

In 2014, Moscow seized the Crimean peninsula when a pro-Russian insurgency broke out in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Britain is among a handful of Western nations that are rushing lethal weapons like anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, increasing the prospect of Russian casualties.

Experts at the Atlantic Council in Washington pointed out better readiness among Ukraine's forces and much improved lines of defence compared to past Russian and Russian-backed campaigns in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Truss said that a Russian invasion would bring severe consequences for the financial sector and individuals. The top diplomat is currently on an official visit to Australia with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

The trip comes as Western officials engage in frantic shuttle diplomacy in part to prevent war, but also to overcome differences in how to respond to Russian aggression.

Truss urged allies to step up and take action in the face of the crisis, linking the Ukraine conflict to a slew of increasingly emboldened authoritarian regimes who are looking to export dictatorship. Together with our allies, we will stand with Ukraine and urge Russia to engage in meaningful discussions. She said that what happens in Eastern Europe matters for the world.

In recent years, that won support in Australia - which has come under fierce diplomatic, economic and political pressure from China, another authoritarian power.

At the conclusion of the Friday meeting in Sydney, UK and Australian defence ministers drew parallels between rising tensions today and the pre-war 1930s.

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton echoed Truss' call for the free world to stand its ground. When Russia acts the way they do, it encourages other bullies and other dictatorships to do the same, even if there is no pushback from the rest of the world, Dutton told the Seven Network.

Thousands of people will die and that is not a circumstance that anyone wants to see prevail. The build-up of Russian troops is incredibly concerning.