The West must end its reliance on supply chains linked to Russia and China (Image: Getty)
Businesses must prepare for a “wartime scenario” and end their reliance on goods from and China, a top NATO military chief has declared.
Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of NATO’s Military Committee, said firms must change their distribution lines as “it is the economies that win wars”.
He warned deals with Russian and Chinese companies are actually deals with the dictators running the two countries.
Admiral Bauer said global instability could leave businesses at the mercy of foreign governments, especially if war were to break out.
:
NATO’s Rob Bauer made the stark admission at a conference on Monday (Image: Getty)
He said: “If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence.’
“Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly.
“Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars.
“We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with Mr. Putin.
Mr McFadden, whose brief as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster includes national security, went on to say Russian cyber attacks could “turn off the lights for millions of people” and accused Moscow of targeting British media, telecoms and energy infrastructure.
He added: “Aided by allies including the UK, has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyber attacks on its electricity grid, its airports, and other critical national infrastructure.
” has targeted its mobile networks – cutting off communications for millions at a time – and on occasion, disabled the air raid warning system in Kyiv.”
Mr McFadden also used his speech to announce a new Laboratory for AI Security Research (LAISR) aimed at helping the UK stay ahead in “the new AI arms race”.
The centre will bring together GCHQ, Oxford University, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Alan Turing Institute and numerous Government departments, and be backed by an initial £8.2 million in state funding.
He added that the UK would look to strengthen Nato’s “collective cybersecurity” through a new “incident response project” to help deal with attacks on critical national infrastructure, while also boosting Britain’s own defences.
He said: “In a few days, I and the UK’s senior national security officials will be sitting down with British businesses to discuss how they can boost their own security and help defend the nation from actors with malign intent – particularly from .
“And I’ll be very clear with them: won’t think twice about targeting British businesses in pursuit of its goals. It is happy to exploit any gap in our physical or cyber defences.
“And so I urge them to do everything in their power to strengthen their own security and protect themselves, the country and our allies from this threat.”