On Wednesday, UK Chief of the General Staff Gen. Patrick Sanders urged UK citizens to be prepared to serve in the military in the event of a conflict with Russia. At the same time, the UK government promised that it would not introduce conscription.
"What a load of rubbish. Russia is not our enemy," Kurten said on X, commenting a claim by security expert Anthony Glees that UK citizens will have to go to war with Russia "within six years."
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin told Sputnik that Western claims of Russia allegedly planning to attack NATO were an information war to justify the West's current hybrid warfare against Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia had no need to attack anyone.
Russia has been vocal over the past years about NATO's unprecedented activity along its western border, saying that NATO was expanding its presence under the pretext of "deterring" perceived "Russian aggression." Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the buildup of NATO forces in Europe. The Kremlin has said that Russia is not threatening anyone, but will not ignore actions that are potentially dangerous to its interests.