Ukraine may use British weapons to attack Crimea
(Baonghean.vn) - Ukraine can use any type of weapon provided by the UK to launch attacks on Russia's Crimea peninsula, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed to journalists on May 14.
The defence secretary said London regarded the region, which was annexed by Russia in a 2014 referendum, as “an integral part of Ukraine”.
Russia has warned that it could retaliate for any attack by hitting British military targets in Ukraine and beyond.
Speaking at a Royal Navy conference in the British capital, Secretary of State Shapps asserted that a Russian victory would be “unimaginable and unacceptable” for Britain, and called for increased arms supplies to Kiev.
Asked specifically about the type of weapons the UK had supplied to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Shapps replied that “we have supplied ammunition for weapons that will be used on Ukrainian territory, including Crimea”.
He refused to give further details about the exact agreements reached between London and Kiev, stressing he would “not go further than talking about tactics”.
In early May, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Reuters that Ukraine had the right to use long-range missiles supplied by Britain to strike deep into Russian territory. Moscow criticized the statement, summoning the British ambassador to warn of possible retaliation if British weapons were used in Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
A potential response could include strikes on “any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and beyond,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, effectively “recognizing his country as a party to the conflict.”
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry also said that British weapons were being actively used by Kiev in “terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure and civilians in Donbass and other regions of Russia.” Russian diplomats also accused London of using weapons supplied to Ukraine to gain a more prominent position in NATO.
According to Sergey Belyaev, head of the 2nd European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Britain remains one of the largest arms donors to Kiev, providing assistance worth 7.1 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022./.