Russia blames UK international minister for nuclear alert menace

The Russian authorities on Monday accused UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and others within the west of creating “unacceptable” remarks which led to the Kremlin’s announcement that it was placing its nuclear forces on excessive alert.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated Truss’ reference to attainable “clashes” between NATO – the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation navy alliance – and Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the explanation behind its transfer.

“Statements were made by various representatives at various levels on possible altercations or even collisions and clashes between NATO and Russia,” Peskov informed a information briefing, as reported by the Interfax information company.

“We believe that such statements are absolutely unacceptable. I would not call the authors of these statements by name, although it was the British foreign minister,” he stated.

It is unclear which particular feedback the Kremlin is referring to, with Downing Street and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) reiterating the necessity for de-escalation. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused western international locations of taking unfriendly measures by imposing “illegitimate sanctions” and making aggressive statements in relation to Russia.

“For this reason I order the minister of defence and the chief of general staff to put deterrent forces on special combat duty,” he stated. The West has tried to downplay these remarks, with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace terming it a distraction from what’s going improper in Ukraine and a reminder to the world that Russia possessed a nuclear deterrent.

“We don’t see or recognise in the sort of phrase or the status he described as anything that is a change to what they have currently as their nuclear posture,” Wallace informed the BBC.

“This is predominantly about Putin putting it on the table just to remind people, remind the world, that he has a deterrent,” he stated.

“President Putin will know that anything involving a nuclear weapon has an equal or greater response from the West. It [the UK’s nuclear deterrent] does keep us safe and that’s why I would say to parents up and down this country we will not do anything to escalate in that area. We will not do anything to feed any miscalculation. We take it very, very seriously,” he added.

The minister additionally claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not going to plan, with “significant casualties” and protests in opposition to it in Russia. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the following 24 hours will likely be “crucial” within the ongoing Russian assault on the nation.

Meanwhile, the UK is making ready to fast-track additional restrictive sanctions on the Russian super-rich by bringing ahead the tabling of a proposed Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill within the House of Commons from later this 12 months to this week.

It is geared toward tackling the circulation of “dirty money” and stopping the laundering of unexplained wealth within the UK property market. The new legislation will apply retrospectively to property purchased by abroad homeowners as much as 20 years in the past in England and Wales, and since December 2014 in Scotland.

“There is no place for dirty money in the UK. We are going faster and harder to tear back the façade that those supporting Putin’s campaign of destruction have been hiding behind for so long,” stated British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Those backing Putin have been put on notice: there will be nowhere to hide your ill-gotten gains,” he stated.

The new laws will create a register of abroad entities requiring offshore homeowners of property within the UK to declare their true identification to make sure criminals aren’t in a position to misuse shell firms for the aim.

Unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) will even be expanded, with UK legislation enforcement being given extra time to evaluation materials supplied in response to the order, and being protected against incurring substantial authorized prices if they carry an affordable case that’s unsuccessful.
UWOs permit UK officers to grab property with out having to show they have been obtained by way of felony exercise.
Separately, a brand new “kleptocracy” cell based mostly within the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), introduced final week by Boris Johnson within the Commons, will start to research sanctions evasion instantly.