If the United Kingdom provides depleted uranium armor-piercing tank ammo to Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would be “forced to react accordingly,” adding that Moscow will treat the weapons as having “nuclear components.”
When his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping visited Moscow, the Russian President made the remarks.
The leader was responding to the announcement made by the UK’s state secretary for defence, Annabel Goldie, that her nation will provide 14 Challenger 2 tanks and armor-piercing bullets that contain depleted uranium to Ukraine because they are “very effective in fighting modern tanks and armoured vehicles.”
“The United Kingdom… announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. I would like to note that if this happens, then Russia will be forced to react accordingly, bearing in mind that the collective West has already started to use weapons with a nuclear component,” President Vladimir Putin said.
In an effort to convince western nations, particularly the US, to minimise their interventions in the Ukrainian war, the Russian leader has regularly made nuclear-related threats.
The UK’s decision, according to Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, has reduced the distance before a potential “nuclear collision” between Moscow and the West.
On the eve of Tuesday’s negotiations between Russia and China, Shoigu told reporters, “Another step has been taken, and there are fewer and fewer left.”
Russia was accused by Britain of “deliberately seeking to disinform” in retaliation.
Depleted uranium is “a standard component,” according to the UK Ministry of Defense, and “has nothing to do with nuclear weapons and capabilities.”
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