The British government is seeking to defuse tensions in a dispute with Moscow over the supply of tank ammunition containing depleted uranium to Ukraine after the Russian president threatened to retaliate and the defense minister said it was "one step closer to a nuclear collision".
Britain confirmed on Monday that it is supplying Ukraine with the disputed ammunition, arguing that the heavy metal is used in weapons because its density makes it easier to penetrate tanks and armored vehicles.
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said yesterday that there was no nuclear escalation in Ukraine and that Russia is the only country that talks about nuclear risks in this case, stressing that it is about conventional ammunition. “There is no nuclear escalation. The only country in the world that pursues nuclear issues is Russia. There is no threat to Russia, and this is purely about helping Ukraine to defend itself," said Cleverly. "It is necessary for everyone to understand that just because of the word uranium it does not mean that this is nuclear ammunition, this is purely conventional ammunition," he added.
However, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, strongly condemned Britain's plans to send such ammunition to Ukraine, saying that Moscow would be forced to react since the weapon has a "nuclear component".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Britain is "introducing escalation into a new and very serious phase", while the Russian mission in Geneva accused London of prolonging the conflict and leaving "no chance for a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis".
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that the British decision leaves fewer and fewer steps before a potential "nuclear collision" between Russia and the West. "Another step has been taken, and there are fewer and fewer of them left," he told the Russian media.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called London's plan a "Yugoslav scenario," saying such munitions cause cancer and harm the environment.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko also weighed in on the dispute yesterday, saying that Russia would respond to Britain's decision by sending ammunition with "real uranium" to Belarus. “We have to step back from this madness. As soon as these munitions explode on the positions of Russian troops, you will see a terrifying response, it will be a lesson for the whole planet," he told reporters in a video.
The Reuters agency points out that Britain has been using depleted uranium in its armor-piercing shells for decades and reminds that Russia also has such ammunition.
Ammunition made of this heavy metal is 70 percent denser than lead and sharpens on impact with armor.
"As in Iraq, the inclusion of depleted uranium munitions in this conflict will only increase long-term civilian suffering," Kate Hudson said.
However, experts warn that it poses a particular health risk near the impact site, where the dust can penetrate the lungs and vital organs of people. They believe that the toxic effects on human health continue long after conflicts end.
Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman of the Secretary General of the United Nations, on Tuesday, responding to a journalist's question about Britain's decision, said that the UN "for years has been expressing concerns about the use of depleted uranium ammunition, bearing in mind the consequences." "We have clearly expressed, including through our Office of Disarmament Affairs, our concerns about the use of depleted uranium anywhere," Haq said.
Doug Weir, director of research and policy at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told the British portal Diclassified, which first reported the news of the disputed munitions shipment to Ukraine, that London's decision "adds to existing concerns about Russia's use of depleted uranium in invasion". "Since 2007, the vast majority of countries have supported UN resolutions highlighting the health, environmental and technical problems associated with the use of weapons. Great Britain was one of only four countries that consistently voted against them," he said.
Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) told Declassified: "As in Iraq, the inclusion of depleted uranium munitions in this conflict will only increase long-term civilian suffering. Depleted uranium munitions have already been linked to thousands of unnecessary deaths from cancer and other serious illnesses. CND has repeatedly called on the British government to immediately impose a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to fund long-term studies of the impact on health and the environment. Sending such weapons to another war zone will not help the people of Ukraine"
Britain is the only country that has confirmed that it is sending ammunition of this type to Ukraine.
The portal "Intersept" wrote at the beginning of this year that the spokesperson of the White House at a press conference in January refused to confirm whether the United States is sending such ammunition to Kiev.
Depleted uranium ammunition was massively used in the Gulf War and in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where the US Army, as "Intersept" reminds, used over a million pieces of such ammunition.
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