Russia has issued another warning to the UK after Prime Minister Andy Burnham backed Ukraine with missile blueprints during his visit in Kyiv. The UK has provided Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, though the supply is finite, and their range is only around 155 miles.
Direct threat from Moscow
Reacting to the move, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed the strongest direct threat to Britain yet at a news briefing in Moscow on Thursday. She said that London was just "one step away" from becoming legally complicit - in their eyes - for what she called "terrorism" against Russian civilians and warned of "inevitable catastrophic consequences" unless Britain changed course.
She added: "We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons.
"We propose that the British leadership once again carefully analyse the situation and immediately, in the most resolute and unequivocal manner, abandon the hostile, aggressive line."
UK and France accused of 'playing with fire'
Zakharova also accused both the UK and France of "playing with fire" after France also agreed to supply long-range missile technology to Ukraine.
After the comments, a spokesperson for Britain's ministry of defence said London stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Ukraine and was committed to providing the equipment that Kyiv needed "to defend itself against Putin's illegal invasion".
CIA director's Moscow visit
Meanwhile, CIA director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow on Tuesday to urge his Russian counterpart to make a deal with Ukraine as Russia's position keeps deteriorating. He presented FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov with evidence of the massive price Russia has paid for relatively small gains in Ukraine following what he described as Kyiv's "mastery" of drone technology.
However, two sources told Reuters that Ratcliffe also brought up the possibility of a Russian operation against a NATO member. Ratcliffe's surprise visit is the first by a director of the CIA since William Burns travelled to Moscow in 2021 to warn against the invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by reporters about Ratcliffe's visit to Russia and the alleged warning issued, US President Trump said: "I don't want to comment on that, but they're not going to attack."
NATO readiness and Kremlin response
NATO countries nearby Russia have increased their military readiness due to concerns of attacks with Poland announcing this week it had taken delivery of its first shipment of South Korean Black Panther main battle tanks, which will be deployed near the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region.
However, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said: "A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation."
