Ukraine: Raab plays down threats of Putin using nuclear weapons
Dominic Raab has played down the chances of Vladimir Putin using nuclear weapons as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, with the Russian President’s threats labelled as “rhetoric and brinkmanship”.
The deputy Prime Minister said Putin has a “track record of misinformation and propaganda” in the wake of the Kremlin’s decision last week to put its nuclear forces on a high alert last week.
Putin also sent a chilling warning to the west yesterday, saying that sanctions piled on Russia by the UK, EU and US are akin to a “declaration of war”, but that “thank god it has not come to that”.
“I think he’s trying to take the conversation away from the stuttering initial phase of the campaign,” Raab told the BBC.
“Conscripts going into Ukaine from Russia were being told they would be peacekeepers and they’ve clearly faced a resistance they weren’t expecting.”
Raab said a military escalation between the UK and Russia is not on the cards and that a Nato-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine will not happen.
“We’re not going to get ourselves into a direct military conflict with Putin because that would be a massive escalation, but also that feeds Putin’s narrative,” he told Sky News.
“Putin wants to say that he’s actually in a struggle with the west – he’s not.”
It comes as Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the UK’s defence staff, today told the BBC that a Russian victory in Ukraine is no longer an inevitability.
“This invasion is not going well for Russia … it’s less powerful than it was 10 days ago. Russia cannot continue,” he said.