The director of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency will warn that Russia poses an "aggressive, expansionist and revisionist" threat in her first speech since taking office, Reuters reported today.
Blaise Metruelli took over from Richard Moore in October, becoming the first woman to head MI6 — a function publicly known by the codename "C" — in the service's 116-year history.
"(Vladimir) Putin should have no doubt — our support is permanent. The pressure we are exerting on behalf of Ukraine will continue. Exporting chaos is a feature, not a flaw, of Russia's approach to international engagement, and we should be prepared for it to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus," Metruelli will say today, according to previously released excerpts from her speech.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Britain has imposed sanctions on numerous Russian businessmen, political leaders, companies, ships and other entities, including the entire GRU military intelligence agency.
Over the weekend, Germany hosted delegations from the United States and Ukraine for talks on a ceasefire agreement, ahead of a summit in Berlin later today, which will also include European leaders.
Metruelli will also highlight the need to step up the use of technology to combat threats to the UK's security, including terrorism and information warfare.
"Technology literacy must permeate everything we do. Not just in our labs, but in the field, in our operational skills, and more importantly — in the mindset of every employee. We must be as good at coding as we are at working with human resources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple languages," she said.
Richard Knighton, the head of the British armed forces, will also call for a "whole of society" approach to defense in a separate speech today, in the face of growing uncertainty and threats, and point to the increased likelihood of Russia invading a NATO country.
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