Foreign Desk Report
MOSCOW: Russia’s ambassador to Britain has accused the UK government of breaking its international treaty commitments with a plan to increase the country’s nuclear arsenal and said the political relationship between Moscow and London is “nearly dead”.
In a foreign and defence policy review published on Tuesday and endorsed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain said it needed to increase its nuclear arsenal in the face of evolving global security threats. Britain said it would raise the upper limit on its nuclear warhead stock to 260 from 180. The same report also classified Russia as “the most acute threat to our security” in the Euro-Atlantic region.
The Kremlin said at the time that it regretted the British nuclear decision, which it suggested would harm international stability, while the Russian foreign ministry described the move as a serious blow to international arms control.
Andrei Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to Britain, went further in an interview due to be broadcast on the London-based LBC radio station on Sunday, saying the plan looked illegal.
