{"id":751480,"date":"2026-08-27T14:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/751480\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:26:09","slug":"russia-says-uk-playing-with-fire-amid-reports-cia-chief-has-warned-kremlin-not-to-attack-nato-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/751480\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia says UK \u2018playing with fire\u2019 amid reports CIA chief has warned Kremlin not to attack Nato | Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia has said it could retaliate against the UK for its support of Kyiv by striking military targets inside and outside Ukraine<\/a>, amid reports that the director of the CIA warned the Kremlin against attacking Nato during a secretive visit this week.<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham, Britain\u2019s prime minister, said on Monday the UK would allow Kyiv access to classified technology<\/a> to start \u2060its own production of Storm Shadow \u200blong-range \u200bcruise missiles. Maria \u2060Zakharova, Russia\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday Britain and France were \u201cplaying \u2060with \u200bfire\u201d.<\/p>\n

Responding to the latest Russian threats, a Ministry of Defence official reiterated UK support for Ukraine. <\/p>\n

\u201cBritain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and we are committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against Putin\u2019s illegal invasion. Russia<\/a> should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal reported that a visit by John Ratcliffe, the CIA chief, to Moscow on Tuesday<\/a> had followed a US intelligence assessment that Russia could be planning to test Nato with a limited assault on an allied country. This could range from a cyber-attack to a small-scale incursion, probably in a Baltic nation.<\/p>\n

Russia has made frequent threats against Ukraine\u2019s western allies during the war, including thinly veiled nuclear threats and others apparently aimed at diplomatic missions in Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Asked \u200cto comment \u200con the reports of Ratcliffe\u2019s visit \u2013 and despite Thursday morning\u2019s threat against UK targets \u2013 Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said: \u201cA lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has \u200cnothing to do with reality and nothing to do \u200bwith the intentions of the Russian Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia is believed to be contemplating a further escalation of its war with Ukraine after months of escalating Ukrainian attacks on Russia\u2019s oil refining infrastructure<\/a> and other sites, which are imposing an increasing economic toll.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin has adopted ever more bellicose rhetoric, much of it aimed at a domestic audience, as the war in Ukraine has been brought to its doorstep.<\/p>\n

In the space of a few days Russia has invoked the threat of its nuclear arsenal against Japan over its territorial claim to the disputed Kuril Islands. It has described relations with the US as a \u201ccrisis\u201d and at a historic low point.<\/p>\n

Ratcliffe\u2019s reported warning mirrored one made by his predecessor, William Burns, in 2021<\/a> before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine \u2013 which Moscow also denied it was contemplating.<\/p>\n

Concerns over Moscow\u2019s intentions have been increasing amid a rise in incidents of Russian hybrid warfare attributed to Moscow across Europe<\/a>, from cyber-attacks and drones to arson, at facilities associated with supporting Ukraine\u2019s war efforts.<\/p>\n

Russia and the US have tried to play down Ratcliffe\u2019s meeting with his Russian counterparts: Donald Trump on Wednesday described the visit as \u201csemi routine\u201d. However, the unusual nature of the encounter has caused intense speculation in the west and Russia.<\/p>\n

Nato countries neighbouring Russia have moved quickly to increase their military readiness. Poland<\/a> this week announced it had taken delivery of its first shipment of South Korean Black Panther main battle tanks, which will be deployed near the border with Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad region.<\/p>\n

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland\u2019s deputy defence minister, said this month Warsaw was preparing for the possibility of a full-scale conflict.<\/p>\n

Tomczyk told Super Express media<\/a>: \u201cWe are preparing for war, hoping it never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russia has said it could retaliate against the UK for its support of Kyiv by striking military targets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-751480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}