- The Russian SVR claims that Britain and France are considering supplying nuclear weapons to Ukraine.
- SVR talks about the secret transfer of nuclear technologies and components to Ukraine.
- The Kremlin described these plans as extremely dangerous and in violation of international law.
Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service claimed on Tuesday that the British and French elites are “not ready to accept defeat” in the war in Ukraine and they are allegedly considering providing Kiev with a nuclear bomb or the so-called a dirty bomb with radioactive material. The British station Sky News reported about it, writes TASR.
Britain and France are said to be convinced that by possessing nuclear weapons, Ukraine would be able to secure more favorable conditions for ending the war conflict. Germany refused to support this initiative, which SVR calls a reasonable decision in its statement.
However, London and Paris are “actively working to resolve issues” related to the delivery of nuclear weapons and their carriers to Kiev, the Russian Interfax news agency wrote on Tuesday, citing the SVR. “This is a secret transfer of European components, equipment and technologies in this area to Ukraine,” said the SVR press office in its statement.
The intelligence service specified that both countries are considering offering Ukraine the French TN75 small warhead from the M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missile as one option. At the same time, the Russian SVR claims that Kyiv’s allies are also trying to make such provision of nuclear weapons appear as a result of their development in Ukraine. According to the SVR, Britain and France “are aware that their plans represent a gross violation of international law, especially the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and are associated with the risk of destroying the global security system for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the alleged plans a “potentially extremely dangerous” action and a “clear violation of all norms and principles of relevant international legal acts.” Peskov added that these facts will be “considered and taken into account” in the ongoing peace negotiations with the US and Ukraine.
Russian ex-president and vice-chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedevwho has turned from a pro-Western reformer into a hard-line supporter of war, warned in a Telegram post that Russia will be forced to use any nuclear weapons – including non-strategic ones – against Ukraine if such weapons are provided by France and the United Kingdom.
Medvedev added that Russia could also use nuclear weapons against states that would provide Kyiv with such weapons. “This is a symmetrical reaction that the Russian Federation has the right to,” he said. According to him, the news about the intentions of Britain and France “radically changes the situation”.
On Tuesday, a group of members of the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, called on their colleagues from the British and French legislatures, as well as the UN Security Council, to verify the information released by the SVR. This call by Russian senators was also sent to the European Parliament, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Interfax added.
The SVR and the Kremlin made the claims on the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and are part of a broader Russian propaganda rhetoric that blames the West for escalating the conflict.
Western countries, including Britain and France, have repeatedly refused to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons, but support it with supplies of conventional weapons and military equipment. Accusations of this type by Russia are seen as part of the Kremlin’s coercive strategy in diplomatic negotiations.
