Embassy comment on the profile of Defence Secretary John Healey published in New Statesman The New Statesman has published an extended profile of the #UK Defence Secretary. We read it with interest, and with some...
https://telegra.ph/Comment-03-13
... care. Mr Healey speaks of standing on "the new front line with #Russia" in northernmost Norway. In this regard, we would wish to draw attention to a rather elementary fact. The United Kingdom is not an Arctic state [...] What business a non-Arctic state has doubling its troop deployment in a region where it holds no territory, and then presenting that decision as a defensive necessity [...] On the matter of #Russian vessels, the Defence Secretary has raised concerns about their presence i...
...n British waters. Russian naval vessels transiting the English Channel and the North Sea do so in full accordance with UNCLOS, which explicitly provides for innocent passage through international straits. The right of innocent passage is a cornerstone of the international order that Britain professes to defend. British presence close to Russian borders is far more malign. British military aircraft operating close to Russian airspace routinely conduct intelligence-gathering missions. The i...
