Wallace told the “Sunday Times” that Russian President Vladimir Putin could send his military buildup to Ukraine “at any time”, adding that Western countries, without specifying them, were not strict enough with Moscow.
He added, “It may happen that Putin stops the engines of his tanks and goes home. But there is something from the smell of Munich in the air, as seen by some in the West.”
Under the Munich Agreement of 1938, parts of Czechoslovakia were handed over to Nazi Germany in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a major conflict in Europe.
A series of diplomatic efforts are underway, including visits by Western leaders to Moscow, in the hope of persuading Putin to back off any plan to invade Ukraine.
“The worrying thing is that despite the increased amount of diplomacy, the military build-up has continued,” Wallace said. “It didn’t stop for a moment, it continued.”
For his part, the Ukrainian ambassador in London warned that mentioning Munich does not help in resolving the crisis.
“The time is not right to insult our partners in the world, reminding them of this agreement, which did not actually bring peace, but, on the contrary, brought war,” Vadim Prystaiko told BBC radio.
“There is panic everywhere, not only in people’s minds but also in the financial markets,” he added.
Asked about this comparison, British Conservative MP Brandon Lewis said the comparison to Nazism was “not the point” of it.
And he explained in a statement to “Sky News” that Wallace was “comparing the diplomatic attempts that preceded World War II with the diplomatic attempts we are all making now.”
Later Sunday, Wallace wrote on Twitter that he was taking a family vacation and returning home “because we are concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine.”