While climate change is often deemed a "threat multiplier", it is clear from the last week "that fossil fuels are a threat multiplier too", she said. "We live in an unstable world. If rich counties fail to support vulnerable countries in tackling climate impacts and in their clean energy transition, it will only fuel a spiral of instability." But the senior Western intelligence official warned that "military options are highly likely on the table in the Kremlin" if Russia's demands are not satisfied.
- Speaking as the Foreign Office pulled some embassy staff out of Ukraine, the PM said the situation was "pretty gloomy" but war was not inevitable.
- Andrey Kelin told Times Radio on Friday that any measure the UK took against Moscow would be met with an equal response, but he refused to give further detail on how this could look.
- They also promised to provide assistance to Ukraine if it "should become a victim of an act of aggression".
He said all major Russian banks will face a full UK asset freeze, which means they will not be able to access accounts, money or property in the UK. The Prime Minister said the UK was one of the first countries in Europe to send defensive weapons to help Ukraine. Russian forces launched a major military assault on Ukraine on Thursday morning, with reports of missile strikes and explosions near major cities. Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, this month repeated that the UK wants to increase defence spending from 2.1% of GDP to 2.5% in the future. “ https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-putins-goal-in-ukraine.html has a proud tradition of being a voluntary force and there is absolutely no suggestion of a return to conscription,” the MoD said, adding that £50bn was being invested in the military during the current year. Sanders has previously complained publicly and privately about defence cuts.
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Mr Prystaiko said the question was not whether Russia would invade Ukraine but whether it would be a "full-scale invasion" or something smaller, adding that Russia had already been in Crimea for almost eight years. But Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, said he believed Russia was trying to install a pro-Moscow leader. He later wrote in a post on Facebook that "the time of pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine is gone forever". Responding to the claim that he was a potential Kremlin candidate to lead Ukraine, he told the Observer newspaper that the Foreign Office "seems confused".
The prime minister did confirm that 1,000 more troops would be put on alert in the UK if Russia were to invade although Downing Street is likely to follow the lead set by Nato. Russia has gradually built up a force of close to 190,000 troops around the Ukrainian border over the last few weeks but maintained that it had no intention to invade – until last night. It is regrettable - and sadly predictable - that we must gather today to condemn Russia’s latest wave of aerial attacks against the Ukrainian people.
Invasion of Ukraine
After an uneasy peace with Ukraine, Moscow has sent forces into the Baltics, clashing with British troops based there to protect Nato’s eastern flank. He has been the subject of international sanctions and an Interpol "red notice" issued at the request of the Ukrainian government, for charges including embezzlement and misappropriation. The man it named as a possible pro-Russian candidate for president, former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev, seems to have dismissed the allegation, but this morning said the country needed new leaders. He also wants Nato to abandon military exercises and stop sending weapons to eastern Europe, seeing this as a direct threat to Russia's security.
- For now the UK appears likely to stick to sanctions rather than engaging in direct military action unless a Nato ally is attacked, although some Conservative MPs have called for the Government to provide air support to Ukraine.
- Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference "there could be a war in Sweden".
- US officials have also pointed to an increase in Russia's social media "disinformation".
The Ukrainian president has published his income over a two-year period as part of a drive to promote transparency. Russia is India's largest arms supplier, but the war in Ukraine has limited Moscow's ability to provide munitions. Peter Szijjarto has arrived in Ukraine for talks with senior officials today. "But if Central/Eastern Europe felt abandoned by those powers, it's not hard to imagine a Polish or even a Ukrainian nuclear programme." "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. However, he warned of "chaos" if European states do not show enough unity and determination.
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Some allies believe Sanders should have been promoted to replace Radakin, but he was asked to step down early after serving two of three years as army chief. During the speech in London, the army chief said the UK needed to broadly follow Stockholm’s example and take “preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing”. His message came a day after Russian-installed leaders in four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans for so-called referendums - starting this week - on joining Russia. Meanwhile, the US is struggling to pass a $100 billion military aid package for Ukraine amid Republican opposition, with defence sources warning that if Donald Trump wins the presidential race, it will hand Russia victory. If Russia did decide to invade Ukraine, the senior Western intelligence official said large numbers of people would be displaced.
“Russia is Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas,” the i news site said, “providing around 35% of the gas used across the continent.” But “the UK’s reliance on Russian gas is far less significant, at just 3%”. Coupled with warnings of an April cost of living crisis, Russia’s actions will likely “push the average price of petrol over £1.50 in the latest blow to household finances”, he added. UK officials said they are “braced for significant petrol price rises at the pump”. Many countries have already raced to impose other sanctions on Moscow following the unprovoked attack on Ukraine. But all of the measures against Russia will have negative impacts for the West too.
Gen Sir Patrick, who will stand down as Chief of the General Staff in six months, will make his speech at the International Armoured Vehicles expo in Twickenham. General Sir Patrick Sanders will stress the need for the Government to “mobilise the nation” in the event of war with Russia in a speech on Wednesday. He said the security situation in Europe was without precedent since the fall of the Iron Curtain. The war that erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014 has already left 14,000 dead and an estimated 1.4 million displaced.
Mr Johnson promised to hit Russia with a “massive” package of sanctions designed to “hobble” the economy in Moscow. Ukraine has said its goal for the talks is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from the country. If war broke out in Ukraine and Russian forces occupied large swathes of the country, many civilians might flee. Russia wants Nato to make a legally binding promise that Ukraine will never become a member. It also wants Nato to withdraw its forces from most Eastern European countries. In 1994, the UK - along with the US - signed a memorandum at an international conference in Budapest promising "to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine".
- Finland, Nato's newest member and a country which has an 800-mile border with Russia, has wider conscription.
- If law and order really began to break down, security forces could be authorised to use lethal force against looters; neighbourhood vigilante groups might spring up.
- He chaired an emergency Cobra meeting earlier and will give a televised statement later on the UK's response to Russia's "unprovoked attack".
- But he was making the point that if war broke out troop numbers would be too small.
- The government says it wants to spend 2.5% of national income on defence - but has still not said when.
Stung, perhaps, by suggestions that while a crisis was boiling in Europe, the foreign and defence secretaries were both in Australia, the UK government does seem to be trying to show that it's getting a grip. Russia has denied it is planning any attack but Mr Putin has issued demands to the West, including that Ukraine be prevented from joining the Nato military alliance. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said there was "a very serious risk" of invasion but there would be "severe economic consequences", including sanctions, if Russia took that step. The prime minister also sought to reassure the British public, pledging to do "everything to keep our country safe" and work with allies "for however long it takes" to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. Mr Putin has accused the West of ignoring Russia's demands to prevent Ukraine from joining the western Nato military alliance and offer Moscow security guarantees. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg criticised Russia's "reckless" attack on Ukraine and said despite weeks of tireless international diplomacy, Russia had chosen "the path of aggression".