UK’s PM frontrunner Truss pledges to be “Ukraine’s greatest friend”

British Foreign Minister Liz Truss, who is running to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said she would become Ukraine's "greatest friend" if she wins the Conservative leadership election.

Reuters reports that as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Truss oversaw the introduction of sanctions against a circle of people close to russian president vladimir putin. Now she has said she would work with allies to provide Ukraine with more weapons and humanitarian aid.

"As prime minister, I will be Ukraine's greatest friend – following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson – and commit completely to ensuring Putin fails in Ukraine and suffers a strategic defeat and that russia is constrained in the future," she said in a statement.

"This conflict is in the balance, and now is not the time for soundings off about concessions and compromises to an appalling dictator.

Working with our partners in the West, we need to carry on providing weapons, aid, and diplomatic support under the terms of Article 51 of the UN Charter. I am the candidate the British people can trust on Ukraine and that they can trust to defend our freedom at home and abroad."

The Daily Mail also reported that Miss Truss said she would update the Integrated Defense and Security Review in light of russia's war in Ukraine, something opposition MPs and the Commons defense committee have been seeking for months.

She said: "What transpires in Ukraine matters to us all. This isn't just a battle for territory or a conflict between two nations, but a great struggle between those who believe in sovereignty and self-determination and authoritarians who want to crush freedom and true democracy."

The Integrated Defense and Security Review, published last March, was completed before russia's invasion of Ukraine and Nato's withdrawal from Afghanistan. It sets out the Government's vision for Britain's role in the world over the next decade. Miss Truss would add an updated focus on China and russia. She believes the invasion of Ukraine and China's growing influence demand a fresh approach to the UK's security.

Miss Truss has also vowed to commit Britain to play a lead role in a "new Marshall Plan" to help provide technical and financial assistance towards Ukraine's reconstruction.

Truss said that when she wins the election for the leader of the Conservative Party, she will immediately call President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

Liz Truss has joined the race against former finance minister Rishi Sunak to become Britain's new prime minister.

Truss leads in opinion polls among Conservative Party members, who will ultimately decide who will become Britain's next prime minister after weeks of voting on Sept. 5.

Read Rubryka's daily timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.