“Will mean a declaration of war.” Medvedev warned Britain about the consequences of sending troops to Ukraine

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev responded to the visit of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to Ukraine.

The politician warned that Britain sending an official military contingent to Ukraine would mean a declaration of war on Russia.

London announced the conclusion of a historic agreement during Sunak's visit to Kyiv

The British Prime Minister arrived in Kyiv together with Defense Minister Grant Shapps and Deputy Chief of the Kingdom's Defense Staff Gwyn Jackins. The British Prime Minister signed a “historic agreement” with Vladimir Zelensky regarding security cooperation between the two states.

The agreement will be valid until Ukraine joins NATO and does not exclude the possibility of extension after the expiration of the ten-year period.

The British government clarified that the G7 countries agreed to provide Ukraine with bilateral security guarantees at the NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023, and the United Kingdom will become the first country to enter into a corresponding agreement. This, in turn, will include intelligence sharing, medical and military training, and other military-industrial cooperation measures. In addition, London is committed to providing prompt and systematic defense assistance to Kyiv.

Medvedev thought about the reaction to a possible shelling of the British delegation in Kyiv

In his comments about Sunak’s visit to Kiev, Medvedev speculated on what the public reaction in the West would have been if the British delegation led by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom had come under cluster shell fire, similar to the one under which civilians in Belgorod found themselves.

The territories of the Belgorod region bordering the Kharkov region were subjected to missile attacks from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. The most massive shelling by the Ukrainian side was carried out in the central areas of Belgorod using Vilkha missiles and Czech-made Vampire multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). As a result, more than 100 people were injured, 25 people could not be saved. On New Year's holidays, the shelling of Belgorod continued.

Russia reproached the EU for its “one-eyed” position on the shelling of Belgorod by the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The UN condemned the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, noting that such attacks violate international humanitarian law. And in France they called the Ukrainian missile strikes on Belgorod a legitimate defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.

In turn, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for Ukraine, accused the EU of having a “one-eyed” position in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The ambassador was outraged by the justification of the representative of the European Union's foreign policy service, Peter Stano, who said that no data provided by Russia on incidents such as in Belgorod were not trustworthy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident a planned terrorist attack. “Why? Because, under the cover of two Vilkha missiles (…) they struck from multiple launch rocket systems (…) at the city center, where people were walking before the New Year,” the Russian leader explained.