MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Deliveries by the United Kingdom of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine will lead to serious ramifications for Russian-British relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This decision will not remain without serious implications both for the Russian-British bilateral relationship and at the international level, where the initial reaction from multilateral institutions has already shown the complete rejection of these plans of London. We will not leave such actions unanswered," the statement said.
The ministry pointed out that they considered British Defense Minister Annabel Goldie’s statement about the UK’s plans to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium armor-piercing shells for Challenger-2 tanks to be yet another confirmation of London’s aim to lead the camp of Russia’s antagonists.
"By taking this step, the Anglo-Saxons have publicly registered their willingness to take the confrontation in Ukraine to a new level. The utter worthlessness of the British authorities’ assurances that they are committed to the post-conflict ‘reconstruction’ of that country is evident for all to see," the statement reads.
As the statement underlines, London has apparently forgotten about the well-known serious repercussions caused by the use of these toxic and radioactive munitions during the conflicts unleashed by the West in Yugoslavia and Iraq.
"This aspiration to increase civilian suffering and to inflict irreparable environmental damage shows that the British are poised to disregard the people of Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
"Such blatantly cynical behavior on the part of the UK once again vividly demonstrates who is the genuine aggressor and instigator of the Ukraine conflict. By violating the fundamental norms of international law, London should not forget that it will have to shoulder the entire burden of responsibility for this," the statement said.
In a statement published on Monday, Baroness Annabelle Goldie, UK Minister of State for Defense, wrote in response to an inquiry from a member of the House of Lords that the British government would send Ukraine munitions containing depleted uranium and featuring enhanced effectiveness against armored vehicles. Moreover, the UK Defense Ministry described depleted uranium as "a standard component" of armor-piercing shells, which it has used for decades, lambasting Moscow’s response to their shipment to Ukraine as an attempt to deliberately spread disinformation.