Russia says 'provocations' like UK warship incident will elicit a 'tough' response

The Kremlin on July 4 said that a British warships’ entry into Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea near Crimea last month is the kind of provocation that demands a tough response. It is imperative to note that Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 but most of the world still recognises it as part of Ukraine. While the United Kingdom has said that it had every right to pass through waters near Crimea, Russia challenged the right of the UK’s HMS Defender and warned that Moscow would not stand back idly if British ships continued to enter its territory. 

While speaking on state television, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the incident was a “well-planned provocation”. Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reaction last week, in which he said that Russia could’ve sunk the UK warship, made it clear that any repetition would provoke a response. "It is obvious that the reaction will of course be tough," he added.

Further, Peskov echoed Putin’s accusation that Washington and London had planned the episode together and said, “I think that our intelligence agencies of course know who took that decision. But, of course, I think the essence of such operations is planned by all the same senior comrades - those over the ocean”. 

Putin accuses US of 'provocation'

Last week, Putin had accused the US military of staging a “complex provocation” after British warship HMS Defender sailed near the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea. The Russian President alleged a US spy plane was part of the operation too, even though the UK Royal Navy has rejected the Russian account of what happened on June 23. Putin said that the Russian navy could have sunk the vessel without igniting a new world war. But he also noted that World War III is not a likely possibility in the event that Russia was to strike down enemy ships or threatening entrants in its territory. 

It is worth mentioning that the June 23 incident came a week after Putin’s summit meeting with US President Joe Biden aimed at de-escalating the worst tensions in years between Russia and the West. Moscow said that it used bombs and gunfire as “warning shots” to force the British vessel to leave waters it claims off the coast of Crimea. The UK, on the other hand, rejected that, saying the warship pursued its planned voyage along an international shipping route. But according to Moscow’s account of the confrontation, the British Navy destroyer HMS Defender entered Russia's "territorial waters" on Wednesday in breach of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

(Image: AP)