Andrei Fedorov, an adviser to the Kremlin, says there might be a "semi-military" response against UK drone factories by "unknown sources" over the sharing of military blueprints with Ukraine. His comments on BBC Newsnight come as UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he plans to travel to the US next month with European leaders to lobby US President Trump on Ukraine's defence needs. In an interview with Bloomberg, Burnham said, "I'm looking forward to going to New York in September," when the UN General Assembly will meet.
He said that while the details were not "fully confirmed", it is "likely" he will go. The trip would be his first to the US since becoming prime minister in July. "Leaving today, I'm quite clear what I need to do in the next few weeks," he said following his official visit to Ukraine on Monday, during which he promised to continue pressuring Russia.
The UK has also agreed to hand over blueprints for British-made components for the Scalp missile, a French version of the UK's Storm Shadow cruise missile. The blueprints will allow Ukraine to produce the long-range weapon domestically. Fedorov, who is Russia's former deputy foreign minister, said Putin was facing "serious" pressure "to undertake certain measures against UK".
Asked on BBC Newsnight where the pressure was coming from, Fedorov responded, "public opinion polls, it's coming from journalists, from mass media". Asked what a "semi-military" response might look like, Fedorov said "it could take the form of something might happen with enterprises, with factories which are producing drones for Ukraine." "They could be attacked not by Russia, but by from unknown sources," he said. The comments are in line with those made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday, when he criticised the UK's decision to share the missile blueprints.
Peskov said it prevented "even the slightest progress" towards achieving peace. He told reporters on Monday that the Russian military was already gathering data to locate any missile production sites to destroy them. "Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime.
Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire," he added. In response, Burnham said: "Who started the fire? That's the question, isn't it?" Burnham's visit to Ukraine was his first official international visit.
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