MOSCOW (Dispatches) – The
Russian Embassy in London warned on Sunday that Britain should cease its “dumb and dangerous” rhetorical provocations concerning the Ukrainian crisis.
The statement came as a response to Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab promising that the Russian economy will face “severe” consequences in case of aggression. He said, however, that it is “extremely unlikely” the United Kingdom would send any troops to defend Ukraine.
At the same time, the newspaper The Telegraph reported that Britain is working on sanctions against Moscow, which may include cutting Russia off from the inter-bank system SWIFT and imposing restrictions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Reports earlier suggested that the UK has sent around 30 elite troops to Ukraine to train the local forces to use anti-tank weapons transferred to Kiev by London.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been escalating over the past several months, as NATO nations alleged that Moscow plans to “invade Ukraine”, citing the movements of the nation’s forces on Russian territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed those accusations and noted that Moscow is anticipating military provocations from the West and Kiev on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.
London also accused the Kremlin of considering a candidate as a pro-Russian leader without providing evidence.
The accusation by the British foreign ministry came at a time of high tensions between Russia and the West over Russia’s massing of tens of thousands of troops on its borders with Ukraine. Moscow has insisted it has no plans to invade.
The U.S. has echoed Ukraine’s claims of a looming Russian “invasion” since November, though Moscow has brushed off the accusations as “fake news” while insisting on talks with the U.S. and NATO on security guarantees in Europe instead.
The UK’s accusation against Russia came after the top U.S. and Russian diplomats have failed to make a major breakthrough in talks to solve the crisis over Ukraine, although they agreed to continue the talks.
Amid the intensifying crisis, the U.S. State Department earlier this week approved shipments of U.S.-made missiles and other weapons from NATO allies Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Ukraine. The weapons arrived in Kiev on Saturday.
Washington also announced it would begin the process of shipping $200 million worth of anti-armor missiles, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine in the coming days.
The UK, for its part, supplied 2,000 missiles and a team of military trainers to Ukraine this week.
Russia has repeatedly warned that Moscow will act if the U.S.-led NATO military alliance crosses its red lines in Ukraine.