The UK’s foreign spy chief accused Russia on Friday of waging an “incredibly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe while stepping up its nuclear threat to scare other countries from supporting Ukraine.
Richard Moore, head of the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, said any slowdown in support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion in 2022 would embolden President Vladimir Putin and his allies.
In what appeared to be a message to US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and some European allies who have questioned its continued support for Ukraine, Moore argued that Europe and its transatlantic partners must stand firm in the face of what he said. be an increasing aggression.
“We recently uncovered an incredibly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resorted to a nuclear threat strategy to sow fear about the consequences of helping Ukraine,” he said in a speech in Paris.
“The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely greater. If Putin succeeds, China will assess the implications, North Korea will be emboldened, and Iran will become even more dangerous,” he added.
In September, Moore said Russia’s intelligence services had gone “a bit wild”, in the latest warning from the Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other Western spy chiefs about what they call hostile actions by Russia, from repeated cyberattacks to fires linked to Moscow.
Moscow has denied responsibility for all of these incidents. The Russian embassy in London did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Moore’s remarks at first.
Last month, the UK’s domestic spy chief said Russia’s GRU military intelligence service was trying to cause “chaos”.
Sources familiar with US intelligence told Reuters that Moscow would likely intensify its campaign against European targets to increase pressure on the West over its support for Kiev.
Trump’s return
Much of Moore’s speech focused on the importance of Western solidarity, saying the collective strength of the UK’s allies would overcome Putin, who he said was becoming increasingly dependent on China, North Korea and Iran.
Trump, who has promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine without saying how, and other Republicans in the US have expressed reservations about Washington’s strong strategic support and supply of heavy weapons to Kiev.
“If Putin manages to reduce Ukraine to a vassal state, he will not stop there. Our security – British, French, European and transatlantic – will be put at risk,” Moore said.
Broadly speaking, Moore said the world is in its most dangerous state in his 37 years of work in the intelligence world, with the Islamic State on the rise again, Iran’s nuclear ambitions an ongoing threat and the radicalizing impact of Iran’s attacks. Hamas to Israel on October 7, 2023 not yet fully known.
This content was originally published in British spy chief accuses Russia of “reckless” sabotage in Europe on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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