WW3 fears explode as seething Putin ‘sees UK as number 1 enemy’ | World | News
The UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine has infuriated Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who now sees the country as his “number one enemy”, John Healey has warned. Delivering the Lord Mayor of London’s Defence Lecture at Mansion House on Monday night, the Defence Secretary said Ukraine‘s Volodymyr Zelensky calls the UK “his closest ally”.
“This is why Putin ranks Britain as his number one enemy,” he added. This comes after Mr Zelensky is seeking renewed backing from European allies following a tense meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House last Friday. The meeting reportedly descended into a “shouting match”, with Mr Trump allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian leader to make territorial concessions not to risk annihilation by Russia. Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would never give “terrorists” any “reward for their crimes”, adding on social media on Sunday: “We count on our partners to support this position”.
During his speech, Mr Healey also hailed Brits for taking in 167,000 Ukrainian refugees.
“The British public have shown, too, that our nation remains united for Ukraine,” he said, according to The Sun.
The UK is set to give Kyiv a record £4.5 billion in military aid this year.
Meanwhile, the Defence Secretary said the cost of sending UK peace troops to Ukraine would be “well over £100 million.” That cost would cover an entry package including the initial deployment of troops and aircraft, and is understood to be a separate cost from the £4.5 billion in military aid.
He also added that Britain would start manufacturing a new type of weapon to down Russian Shahed drones “within weeks”.
The interceptor drone, known as Octopus, is a joint project using Ukrainian technology and UK factories. The scheme will use low-cost, unmanned aircraft to discourage Vladimir Putin’s jets and drones from entering NATO’s eastern border, which have already proved effective against Iranian-manufactured Shahed suicide drones, according to Mr Healey.
Last month, Mr Healey told The Telegraph that the “reckless” and “dangerous” manoeuvres would be confronted with a response from NATO nations, including new frontier defences.
He added that the UK would mass-manufacture the drones utilising “modern manufacturing techniques that we have in this country that they haven’t got” and “supply them back in the thousands to help Ukraine defend themselves“.
“We’re ready with allies through NATO to demonstrate to Putin that his aggression and his incursions, reckless or intentional, will be challenged.”
As a NATO member, the UK would have the right to trigger the alliance’s Article 5 should Russia ever launch a direct attack on the country. This could see the alliance come together in defending Britain – and possibly spark a worldwide conflict.
