Ukraine conflict: Don’t be ‘unduly alarmed’ by Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat, Britons told

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that its nuclear missile forces had been placed on enhanced combat duty just hours after a cabinet minister said Britons should not be “unduly alarmed” by the prospect.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace urged Britons not to be “unduly alarmed” at Vladimir Putin raising the prospect of a nuclear attack which he stressed was a “big attempt to distract” from the setbacks which have hit the Kremlin’s invasion plans in Ukraine.

The Russian president sent a shudder around the world with his nuclear threat issued by telling his army chiefs to put these appallingly destructive weapons on higher alert for use.

But Mr Wallace told Times Radio: “The United Kingdom has a powerful very high readiness deterrent, the continued at sea deterrent…somewhere as we speak… somewhere deep below the seas is our deterrent and because of that people in the United Kingdom should not be unduly alarmed.”

Earlier, speaking on Sky News, he stressed: “The language that President Putin has used does not actually link to anything of a Russian readiness procedure.

“It’s really we assess him putting the deterrent into the communications space, reminding people that he has a deterrent, and it is also about distracting the world and the public from what he is actually doing in Ukraine.”

He added: “Of course, Nato has a nuclear deterrent. The United Kingdom is Nato’s nuclear deterrent, but obviously we are joined by France and the United States.

“We keep our readiness very high, that is why we have a continued at sea deterrent.

“But what we should not really forget that this is a big attempt to distract away from his troubles in Ukraine by just deploying into the media space these phrases.”

Mr Wallace told LBC Radio how his son had asked him about the prospect of a nuclear war.

“Dad, says no, we are not going to have a nuclear war.

“What I’ve said to him is President Putin wants to distract from what has gone wrong in Ukraine and wants us all to be reminded that he has a nuclear deterrent.”

‘Crucial 24 hours’

Boris Johnson called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “disastrous misbegotten venture by President Putin” as the Kremlin’s forces continue to face fierce resistance on the ground.

Ahead of the United Nations holding a rare emergency meeting of its General Assembly over the crisis, the Prime Minister also told the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Britain would do all it could to get more arms to his military.

Air raid sirens sounded across Kyiv shortly before 6am on Monday, Mr Zelensky warned the next 24 hours would be crucial in his nation’s battle against Putin’s invasion which is already believed to have already claimed thousands of lives, including children and other civilians.

Mr Zelensky told Mr Johnson the next 24 hours would a “crucial period” for his country.

A Ukrainian delegation is due to meet the Russians “without precondition” on Monday on the border with Belarus, although Mr Zelensky has indicated he sees little prospect of any meaningful dialogue.

In the meantime, Russian and Ukrainian forces have again been engaged in heavy fighting ahead of the widely expected assault on the capital.

Ukrainian defenders have put up stiff resistance that appeared to slow the invasion, but a US official cautioned that far stronger Russian forces inevitably will learn and adapt their tactics as Russia’s assault goes on.

Russian forces unleashed a barrage of bombing on key cities on Sunday night.

But both Chernihiv and Kharkiv, as well as Kyiv, remain under Ukrainian control but heavy fighting continues in both cities, the MoD said.

A curfew in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv lifted early on Monday morning.

Rouble plunges as sanctions bite

On the economic front, the Rouble plunged 28 per cent in early trading on Monday - a new record low - after the West imposed ever tougher sanctions on Moscow over the weekend.

Russian’s invasion of Ukraine has caused markets to swing wildly, given the potential impact on inflation, energy supplies and other economic repercussions. There have been reports of people in Russia drawing money out of banks, sparking fears of a run on the country’s financial institutions.

Russia’s currency fell to 118 against the US dollar and Russia’s central bank banned the foreign selling of Russian securities and stock markets failed to open on time.

New measures announced over the last few days have included directly sanctioning Mr Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s central bank and cutting Russian banks out of the SWIFT financial system, which enables cross border payments.

The tougher sanctions were cited as one of the reasons behind Mr Putin’s alarming move to put his defence chiefs and nuclear forces on high alert on Sunday.

Britain said on Monday it was taking further measures against Putin’s regime, together with the US and EU, banning British entities from undertaking transactions with the Russian central bank, finance ministry and wealth fund.

“The UK Government will immediately take all necessary steps to bring into effect restrictions to prohibit any UK natural or legal persons from undertaking financial transactions involving the CBR, the Russian National Wealth Fund, and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation,” the government said.

The UK said there would be more designations announced this week.

“These measures demonstrate our determination to apply severe economic sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” said Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

“The Bank of England continues to take any and all actions needed to support the Government’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said.

The new sanctions also include new restrictions on Russian financial institutions and measures to prevent Russian companies from issuing transferable securities and money market instruments in the UK.

Britain said it would have “a power to prevent designated banks from accessing Sterling and clearing payments through the UK.”