Britain is preparing to offer NATO a large-scale deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, to respond to rising "Russian hostility" towards Ukraine, news agency AFP reported. The approximately 1,150 UK troops currently in eastern Europe could be doubled in the coming days.
The British government had earlier accused Russia of seeking to replace Ukraine's government with a pro-Moscow administration, and said former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate. Murayev is head of the small pro-Russian party Nashi, which currently has no seats in Ukraine's parliament. Britain's Foreign Office named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services. It is unclear what means Britain believes Russia might use to install a friendly government in Kyiv.
The UK government made the claim based on an intelligence assessment, without providing evidence to back it up. It comes amid a war of words between Moscow and the West over Russia's designs on Ukraine. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the information "shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking."
Truss urged Russia to "de-escalate, end its campaigns of aggression and disinformation, and pursue a path of diplomacy," and reiterated Britain's view that "any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs."
-Inputs from agencies
