Vladimir Putin has said he would be forced to react if the UK sent depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine. Speaking after holding talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow today, the Russian president said Beijing's peace plan could be the basis for settling the war in Ukraine - but said the West has so far shown no interest.
Mr Putin said that if Britain provided Ukraine with ammunition for battle tanks containing depleted uranium, Russia will respond, but he did not elaborate on how. He said: “It looks like the West indeed intends to fight Russia until the last Ukrainian,” pointing out the reported plan. “If that happens, Russia will respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.”
It comes after defence minister Baroness Anabelle Goldie said the UK would be sending "ammunition including armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium" to Ukraine, along with a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks, in a written answer to a question asked in Parliament. According to the BBC, depleted uranium is about 40 per cent less radioactive than natural uranium, and is capable of penetrating shells and piercing tanks. The effects it may have on health and the environment have long been debated.
Mr Putin was speaking after Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv on the same day Mr Xi was in Moscow to show his support for Russia. Mr Kishida, who will chair the G7 summit in May, is meeting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital, while Mr Xi is in talks with Mr Putin for the second day of his three-day visit to the Russian capital.
The two visits, about 500 miles apart, highlighted the nearly 13-month-old war’s repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind Moscow or Kyiv.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was looking to expand its cooperation with China in a bid to prevent Nato from becoming the world’s dominant military force.
Western officials “have seen some signs” that Mr Putin also wants lethal weapons from China, though there is no evidence Beijing has granted his request, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Tuesday. “China should not provide lethal aid to Russia,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “That would be to support an illegal war and only prolong the war.”
It comes after the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced on Friday that it wants to put Mr Putin on trial for the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. Moscow, which does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, dismissed the move as “legally null and void”.
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