‘Plot to install pro-Russia regime in Ukraine’
The UK foreign office has named former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as potential Kremlin candidate; Russia has denied it.
The UK government has taken the unusual step of making a formal statement to warn of a Russian plot to install a pro-Kremlin leader in Ukraine amid growing tensions in the region.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) named former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate and once again warned Russia of “severe costs” of activities to subvert Ukraine.
“The information being released today shines light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin’s thinking,” UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement on Saturday.
Russia rejects UK claim
Russia on Sunday rejected a British claim that Russia was seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration.
“The disinformation spread by the British Foreign Office is more evidence that it is the Nato countries, led by the Anglo-Saxons, who are escalating tensions around Ukraine,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “We call on the British Foreign Office to stop provocative activities, stop spreading nonsense.”
The White House called the UK government assessment “deeply concerning” and said it stands with the duly elected Ukrainian government. “This kind of plotting is deeply concerning,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday rebuffed the idea of imposing economic sanctions on Russia now, saying that doing so would undercut the West’s ability to deter potential Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“When it comes to sanctions, the purpose of those sanctions is to deter Russian aggression. And so if they are triggered now, you lose the deterrent effect,” Blinken told CNN’s State of the Union programme in an interview.