Putin will not stop if he wins in Ukraine, says MI6 chief
Photo: Richard Moore (Getty Images)
Richard Moore, the chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, believes that if Russian President Vladimir Putin manages to achieve victory and turn Ukraine into a vassal state, he will not stop there, according to Reuters.
He says that the cost of supporting Ukraine is well known, adding: "The cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher. If Putin succeeds China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would become still more dangerous."
Moore notes in his speech in Paris that Russia is conducting a campaign of subversion in Europe while simultaneously escalating its nuclear saber-rattling to deter other countries from supporting Ukraine.
"Our security - British, French, European and transatlantic- will be jeopardised. We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling to sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine," he said.
Moore’s speech seemed aimed at rallying wavering European allies and all skeptics in the future US administration under Donald Trump about the importance of Ukraine.
He joins other heads of Western intelligence agencies in warning about the growing number of Russian subversive actions.
NATO and Western intelligence agencies have stated that Russia is behind the increasing number of hostile actions in the Euro-Atlantic region - from repeated cyberattacks to arson.
Last month, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service said that Russia's military intelligence, the GRU, was aiming to sow "chaos" across the United Kingdom and Europe.
Sources familiar with US intelligence told Reuters this week that Russia was likely to expand its subversion campaign against European targets to increase pressure on the West over its support for Kyiv.
Moore added that cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States has made the societies of both countries safer.
According to a KMIS survey, the majority of Ukrainians (60%) believe that Russia intends to destroy the Ukrainian nation (34%) or carry out a physical genocide of the majority of the population (26%).
