Vladimir Putin must “desist and step back” from war in Ukraine or risk being dragged into a prolonged conflict similar to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will warn.

In a message to the Russian president, the foreign secretary will say the UK and its allies “continue to stand with Ukraine” and will urge Putin to engage in “meaningful discussions” about the crisis

following the build-up of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

Her comments came after U.S. President Joe Biden said he believed Mr Putin did not want a full-scale war and warned the Russian leader would pay a “dear price” if he launched a military incursion.

Ms Truss predicted that an invasion could lead to Russia being drawn into a prolonged and bloody conflict.

She would use a speech in Australia on Friday to call on Mr Putin to “desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake.”

She would claim the “Kremlin has not learned the lessons of history” and that “invasion will only lead to a terrible quagmire and loss of life, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan war and conflict in Chechnya.”

The Soviet war in Afghanistan stretched throughout the 1980s, costing thousands of lives.

The foreign secretary and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have used their visit to bolster defence and diplomatic relations between Britain and Australia.

Ms Truss will use her speech at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney to highlight the need for allies such as the UK and Australia to work together to counter the challenge posed by Russia and China on the world stage.

She would say that “global aggressors” are “emboldened in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War.”

Ms Truss added, “They seek to export dictatorship as a service around the world. That is why regimes like Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar find their closes allies in Moscow and Beijing.”

Ms Truss would add that threats to “freedom, democracy and the rule of law” are global challenges, not regional issues and so require an international response from the “free world.”

(dpa/NAN)