‘Russia does not pose any threat to Great Britain’: Moscow’s London embassy reacts to UK defence spending increase
Returning to Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement yesterday that the British government will incease defence spending – the Russian embassy in the UK has now reacted to the decision.
In a statement, the Russian mission in London starts by saying this “pertains to the internal affairs” of the UK and it would not usually comment – but for what it calls the “false and provocative anti-Russian context that is being used to justify this painful step for the British”.
The statement goes on to criticise the UK’s leadership and describes the 2018 poisonings in the Wiltshire city of Salisbury – which led to worldwide condemnation of Russia, after British authorities identified suspected Russian spies as the likely culprits – as a “mythical chemical weapons attack”.
Dawn Sturgess, a local resident who came into contact with the Russian-made novichok nerve agent used in the poisonings, died as a result.
The statement also refers to UK weapons given to Ukraine, saying: “Today, with the consent of the British government, British missiles are hitting targets in our country.”
“We declare responsibly – Russia does not pose any threat to Great Britain – neither at sea, nor in the air, nor on the streets,” the statement adds. “And especially not to the long-suffering health care system.Â
“We do not need this. But the British government needs these inventions so as not to deal with the real socio-economic problems of the country.”