There is “a real risk” of the UK becoming involved in a war with Russia, a top NATO official said. James Appathurai, Nato’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, said: “There is a real risk of war. We have heard that from our intelligence chiefs, from our political leaders across Europe. And we need to be strong so that there isn’t war. The best deterrent will be that we are capable.”
But he said the UK isn’t currently spending enough on defence to ensure it is ready to defend itself.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed this week that the UK is planning to send British troops to Ukraine, if the current Russian invasion ends. He stressed this would only happen if there is peace in Ukraine, and MPs will have a debate and vote before troops are sent. However, the plan has raised questions about what would happen if Russia resumes its attack on Ukraine whole British soldiers are in the country.
British armed forces also supported the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic on Wednesday. The Government of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin branded the raid illegal and a polttician from President Putin’s party, Andrei Klishas, called it an act of “outright piracy”.
Mr Appathurai told Times Radio: “The UK gets it from a government point of view. The policies are changing. The money’s being put there. But […] the money is not yet flowing fast enough to the defence industry. I just got off a discussion an hour ago, which really confirmed that.
“This is a moment of real risk, and it will be a discussion encouraged by the Russians behind the scenes. We need to keep our foot on the gas. We do not have the capabilities we need.”
US President Donald Trump’s threat to take over Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has raised questions about the future of NATO, with some experts predicting the US-led military alliance would be finished if Trump launched military action against Denmark, a NATO member.
Denmark has welcomed a meeting with the US next week to discuss President Donald Trump’s renewed call for the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island of Greenland to come under American control.
“This is the dialogue that is needed, as requested by the government together with the Greenlandic government,” Denmark’s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR on Thursday.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio had said on Wednesday that a meeting about Greenland would happen next week, without giving details about timing, location or participants.
“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention. I’ll be meeting with them next week, we’ll have those conversations with them then,” Mr Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Greenland’s government has told Danish public broadcaster DR that Greenland will participate in the meeting between Denmark and the US announced by Mr Rubio.
“Nothing about Greenland without Greenland. Of course we will be there. We are the ones who requested the meeting,” Greenland’s foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt told DR.
The island of Greenland, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people.
US vice president JD Vance said on Wednesday that Denmark “obviously” had not done a proper job in securing Greenland and that Mr Trump “is willing to go as far as he has to” to defend American interests in the Arctic.
In an interview with Fox News, Mr Vance repeated Mr Trump’s claim that Greenland is crucial to both the US and the world’s national security because “the entire missile defence infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland”.
He said the fact that Denmark has been a faithful military ally of the US during the Second World War and the more recent “war on terrorism” did not necessarily mean they were doing enough to secure Greenland today.