UPDATE: UK PM warns against forgetting threat of Russia amid Iran war

Britain and its allies cannot forget about the threat Russia poses amid the war in the Middle East, Keir Starmer has said.

The UK prime minister made the warning after claiming the West is facing a ‘war on two fronts’ – Ukraine and Iran – as he met the leaders from a northern European military coalition in Finland.

Starmer also gave approval for British forces to begin seizing Russian shadow fleet tankers as he arrived in Helsinki for the Joint Expeditionary Force leaders’ summit.

Speaking at the gathering in Helsinki’s presidential palace, the prime minister said: ‘The threat from Russia in the north and east has not gone away.

‘In fact, in my view that threat has grown.’

The Ukrainian navy will join a JEF exercise for the first time in the autumn, Starmer announced, after he praised Kyiv’s ‘unparalleled’ capabilities in countering drone warfare.

The JEF, a military coalition of 10 northern European countries led by the UK, aims to defend against Russian incursions.

It also includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

Political leaders from nine of the countries attended, with Denmark sending officials instead as coalition talks take place after the nation’s general election.

Speaking to broadcasters as the summit began, Starmer earlier said: ‘The focus here is very much on Russian aggression in Ukraine and we have to accept that there’s a war on two fronts – there’s the Iranian conflict and the continuing Ukrainian conflict.

‘Today I’ll be talking to allies about what more we can do. Of course, there will be discussions about defence spend, also defence capability.’

The prime minister said he was ‘making clear’ to allies that Britain would now begin seizing ships involved in Russia’s sanction-busting trade network.

He said: ‘These are ships that are unlawfully breaching sanctions, usually with oil. We’ll be working with others on that project.’

Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to be made up of more than a thousand ageing tankers.

They illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine began.

JEF countries Finland, Sweden and Estonia have recently intercepted suspected shadow tankers travelling through the Baltic.

Closing off British waters to the shadow fleet is aimed at forcing the Russian vessels into taking longer, more costly sea routes, or risk being intercepted by the UK.

British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years, and have supported operations by other countries to seize the ships.

In January, the UK assisted in the seizure of the oil tanker Marinera by the US.

Previously known as the Bella-1, the Russian-flagged vessel was captured by US forces aided by RAF aircraft and the British supply ship RFA Tideforce in the Atlantic.

On Thursday morning, Starmer and other JEF leaders observed as Finnish border guards abseiled from a helicopter on to the Turva, a patrol ship.

The exercise, which the leaders watched from the ship’s control room as it sat in the waters off the Port of Helsinki, was designed to give an example of how JEF allies could move against the shadow fleet.

In his first engagement of the summit, Starmer met Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president.

At the top of the bilateral meeting on Thursday, Stubb praised the shared pragmatism of Finland and the UK.

The president later described the UK as the ‘father of JEF’ as all leaders gathered for talks.

Starmer meanwhile said: ‘The fact that we saw each other last week in London, the fact that I am here today, just shows the closeness not just of our relationship but the relationship between our two countries.’

As he waited to greet the prime minister at his official residence, Stubb told the media he had been for an early morning dip in the Baltic Sea.

Asked how long he had spent in the icy waters, he replied: ‘Exactly 90 seconds.’

Starmer also met with his Dutch and Swedish counterparts, Rob Jetten and Ulf Kristersson, ahead of the first full meeting of the summit.

By David Lynch in Helsinki, Helen Corbett, Sophie Wingate and Sam Hall, Press Association

Press Association: News

source: PA

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