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Updated January 16th, 2023 at 17:34 IST

'Don't prolong the conflict': Sunak slammed over decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine

Heritage Party leader David Kurten has lashed out at British PM Rishi Sunak over the UK Prime Minister’s decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine.

Reported by: Bhagyasree Sengupta
Rishi Sunak
Image: AP | Image:self
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UK politician and Heritage Party leader David Kurten has lashed out at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over his decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Kurten stated that Britain should focus on the de-escalation of the war rather than contributing towards its intensification. Kurten also had harsh words for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He called the current Ukrainian administration a “Nazi-infested regime”. 

These atrocious remarks by Kurten came after the British Prime Minister confirmed that the UK will send the famous British Challenger 2 tanks to the war-stricken Ukraine, in an effort to “bolster the country’s war efforts”. 

“Sunak is wrong to send British tanks to Ukraine. The UK government should be trying to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, not prolonging it by supporting the corrupt, Nazi-infested Zelenskyy regime," he wrote on Twitter on Saturday. The conservative British politician has been an ardent critic of Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine war. In September last year, Kurten criticised the west in Piers Morgan’s chat show. “The West has been poking the [Russian] bear for eight years essentially,” said Kurten on the September chat show. He then went on to add, “The Ukrainian Army and forces, backed by the Azov Battalion, for eight years have been shelling, maiming, and killing ethnic Russians in the Donbas”. The British Politician and political leader was affiliated with the UK Independence Party. Kurten, who has been in mainstream British politics since 2015, also ran for the Mayor of London in 2021. 

The British battle tank in question is Challenger 2, one of the strongest British battle tanks that have been used in countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq. In the past, the British Army has claimed that the Battle tank is famous since it has “never” been destroyed by any British enemy.  As per the reports the tanks are currently deployed in the Baltic state of Estonia, as a part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the region. The UK is set to provide 14 such tanks to Ukraine, making it the first western country to supply homemade heavy armour to Kyiv amid the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Rishi Sunak confirms the supply of weaponry

On Sunday, it was reported that the British Prime Minister confirmed Britain’s intention to send the weapons to Ukraine. According to BBC, Sunak spoke to Zelenskyy over a phone call on Saturday, assuring Ukraine that Britain will send the tanks along with other artillery systems. A spokesperson from Downing Street has said that the move by the UK PM shows, "The UK's ambition to intensify support”. Britain is set to send other weapons along with the Challenger 2s. As per the reports, the United Kingdom is expected to send around 30 AS90s large self-propelled guns to Kyiv. 

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly extended his support to Sunak, stating that this is the best time to intensify support for Ukraine. In a column in British Tabloid The Sun, Cleverly stated that “now is the time to accelerate and go further and faster”. The Foreign Secretary wrote that “the Russian army is on the defensive and morale among its troops is pitiful". Cleverly then went on to blame the “shambolic state of Russian military logistics”. 

Russia, on the other hand, was displeased by the move. The Russian embassy in Britain said the move would only “intensify” the conflict. However, the Ukrainian President thanked UK for their support. The tanks "will not only strengthen us on the battlefield but also send the right signal to other partners," Zelenskyy said.

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Published January 16th, 2023 at 17:34 IST

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