MOSCOW, January 12. / TASS/. A deployment of British troops in Ukraine would mean a declaration of war against Russia, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned.

He was commenting on the arrival of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Kiev for the signing of a "historic agreement on security cooperation."

"I hope our eternal enemies, the insolent British, realize that a deployment of their official military contingent in Ukraine would mean a declaration of war on our country," Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

"How would the Western public feel if a British delegation came under fire from cluster munitions in the center of Kiev, as it happened to civilians in Belgorod?" the Security Council official also said.

Ukraine shelled the center of Belgorod on December 30, 2023, using two missiles with cluster munitions and shells to a Czech-made multiple launch rocket system. Twenty-five people were killed, including five children, and more than 100 people suffered wounds. Dozens of residential houses and civilian facilities sustained damage. On December 31 last year, the Russian Defense Ministry announced a retaliatory strike on Ukrainian military facilities, including in Kharkov, which resulted in significant losses for Ukraine.