Russia Warns It Can Hit UK's Military "Beyond" Ukraine Amid Nuclear Saber-Rattling
We reported earlier Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his armed forces to conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills in order for the country to be fully 'ready' to deter threats against it.
A specific date for these nuclear drills has yet to be publicized, but importantly the Kremlin has made it clear that the order is directly in response to recent threatening comments by Western powers. For example both the US and UK have lately pledged to continue arming Ukraine "for as long as it takes" - and further British officials have openly stated that Ukraine may use UK-supplied weaponry to attack inside Russia if need be. There's also the example of France's Macron continually talking about being open to Western boots on the ground in defense of Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was in Ukraine late last week, his second trip there since the war began, where he stated provocatively, "Ukraine has that right. Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it's defending itself."
Russia's foreign ministry in response promptly summoned UK Ambassador to Moscow Nigel Casey over the remarks. "Casey was warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons on Russian territory could be any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and beyond," the ministry stated after the meeting.
Importantly, the Kremlin laid out that Cameron's words mean he "de facto recognized his country as a party to the conflict." This marks possibly the first time that the Russian government specifically threatened to attack British military installations and equipment within Ukraine and beyond.
The foreign ministry statement further said this constitutes "evidence of a serious escalation and confirmation of London’s increasing involvement in military operations on the side of Kiev."
Ambassador Casey has been urged to "think about the inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps from London and to immediately refute in the most decisive and unequivocal manner the bellicose provocative statements of the head of the Foreign Office."
French Ambassador Pierre Levy has also been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry on Monday, and the French government likely was also issued similar warnings. Again this comes as Macron is still pushing the idea of NATO troops in Ukraine, which a number of allies have rejected.
A timeline for the drills has yet to be revealed, but the Kremlin has confirmed the exercise will take place "in the near future"...
Russia will test its ability to deploy tactical nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced. The drills will be conducted ‘in the near future’ and were ordered by President Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/QgAza5jDib
— RT (@RT_com) May 6, 2024
Moscow in a follow-up statement said the drills will "cool down the ‘hot heads’ in Western capitals and help them understand the possible catastrophic consequences of the strategic risks they generate."