Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dismissed threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin of a possible nuclear response over Ukraine as “sabre-rattling”. Mr Johnson said it had been calculated by one think tank that the Russians had made 35 mentions of the possible use of nuclear weapons.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari, in an interview which will air at 7am tomorrow (July 1), Mr Johnson said: “It’s very, very important that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be side-tracked by this kind of sabre-rattling, because fundamentally, what Putin is trying to do is to reframe this.
“It’s about Russia versus Nato. It’s about a stand-off of that kind. It’s not.
“It's about his attack on an entirely innocent country. And it’s about the Ukrainians’ right to protect themselves.”
Following his announcement of plans at the Nato summit in Madrid for additional defence spending, Mr Johnson said the Government was committed to ensuring Britain had a large enough army but it also had to be properly equipped. “Of course, you have got to have a big enough army. You’ve got to have enough troops, you got to have enough muscle power to do what you need to do. That’s crucial,” he said.
“We’ll never make any concessions there. But you’ve also got to make sure that the troops you do have are properly equipped.”
