Russian Threats To Britain Will Only Further Putin's Pariah Status, Dominic Raab Warns
3 min read
Vladimir Putin’s threats to Ukraine’s allies will only further increase Russia’s pariah status, Dominic Raab has said.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister warned the outcome of the war in Ukraine hangs “in the balance” and that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s army has every right to use military aid donated by Western states to defend its borders.
“International law is very clear on this, all states are entitled to provide military support to any state exercising the right of lawful defence against an aggressive invasion,” Raab said.
“Frankly, if Russia starts threatening other countries it only adds further to their pariah status and will only further the solidarity and consensus in the international community that they must be stopped,” he added.
On Tuesday morning armed forces minister James Heappey told Times Radio that Ukraine has a “completely legitimate” right to attack military targets within Russia, including using Western-donated weaponry.
Western states have been cautious about how military aid delivered to Zelensky’s army is used. To deter Putin from escalating the war, Nato member states, including the UK, have previously only said its aid will only be used for defensive purposes.
This week, Putin’s defence ministry threatened to attack the UK over its support for Ukraine striking targets in Russian territory.
"We would like to underline that London's direct provocation of the Kyiv regime into such actions, if such actions are carried out, will immediately lead to our proportional response,” a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said.
In a perceived reference to the British embassy in Kyiv, which is due to reopen this week, the spokesperson added: "The Russian armed forces are in round-the-clock readiness to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision long-range weapons at decision-making centres in Kyiv."
Threats directed from Russia at the UK come as foreign secretary Liz Truss will today use a keynote speech to call on Western states to increase defence spending.
Truss will tell an audience at Mansion House that the war in Ukraine must trigger a “rebooting, remodelling and recasting” of the strategy that democratic states take to deter foreign aggressors.
The foreign secretary will praise the response of Ukraine’s allies to Russia’s invasion and will argue that for the solidarity to be solidified, the west must ensure any future threats from aggressors are “contained” and “fail”.
“There will be untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe," Truss is due to say.
"We will never feel safe again. So, we must be prepared for the long haul and double down on our support to Ukraine," the foreign secretary will add.
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