Liz Truss: Ukraine comments explained, what did she sayd - why Russia and Putin blamed nuclear threat on Foreign Secretary

The Kremlin blaming remarks from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for Vladimir Putin ordering Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert has been widely decried as an attempt to distract from Moscow’s actions during the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president said he had placed Moscow’s nuclear forces on a “special regime of combat duty” in response to “aggressive statements” from members of the Nato defence alliance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov went further on Monday (28 February), blaming the escalation during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Truss.

But what did she say to get the Russian riled?

Here is everything you need to know about it.

What did Liz Truss say?

Despite the Kremlin laying the blame for its ratcheting up of Russia’s nuclear deterrent, they have not made clear exactly which of Truss’ statements they have taken the most offence to.

“Statements were made by various representatives at various levels on possible altercations or even collisions and clashes between Nato and Russia,” Peskov told a press briefing, the Interfax news agency reported.

“We believe that such statements are absolutely unacceptable. I would not call the authors of these statements by name, although it was the British foreign minister.”

Ahead of Putin’s escalation on Sunday 27 February, Truss had told Sky News that the “long-running conflict is about freedom and democracy in Europe”.

“If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine we are going to see others under threat – the Baltics, Poland, Moldova, and it could end up in a conflict with Nato,” she added.

On the same day, she announced further sanctions against Russia in the Commons, telling MPs Putin had been “confounded” by the collective response of western allies, leading him to resort to “more and more extreme rhetoric”.

She also appeared to give support to Britons wanting to travel to Ukraine to join the fight against Putin, with fellow members of Government later reminding UK citizens it would be illegal to do so.

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme whether she would support UK citizens who chose to answer the call, the Foreign Secretary said it is “something people can make their own decisions about” and “if people want to support that struggle, I would support them in doing that”.

Is Truss a danger to Britain?

If the Kremlin’s issues with Truss’ statements are genuine, should the UK be worried about the Foreign Secretary’s words leading to even more tension in the future?

“We will not do anything to escalate in that area,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, “we will not do anything to feed any miscalculation, we take it very, very seriously.

“But at the moment this is a battle of rhetoric that President Putin is deploying, and we just have to make sure we manage it properly.”

Truss has since warned Russia that “nothing and no one is off the table” as Britain and allies hit Putin with sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.

She told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva: “Putin is responsible for civilian casualties and over 500,000 people fleeing with the numbers still rising fast. The blood is on Putin’s hands, not just of innocent Ukrainians but the men he has sent to die.

“We’re using our collective heft, making up over half the world’s economy to cut funding from Putin’s war machine and we’re delivering severe economic costs through these sanctions as ordinary Russians are finding form queues at their local banks and rising interest rates.

“These consequences will only increase in breadth and severity as the conflict goes on, we’re working to squeeze the Putin regime harder and harder by steadily tightening the vice.

How has the UK responded?

The Foreign Office has said the comments from Peskov were a “clear attempt to distract from Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”.

An ally of Truss added: “Nothing Liz has said warrants that sort of escalation. It’s clearly designed to distract from the situation on the ground in Ukraine.”

British and US officials have played down Putin’s nuclear threat as it is unclear how his order changes Russia’s nuclear posture.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed the alert as a “distraction” from the struggle Russian troops are facing amid fierce resistance in Ukraine.

Wallace downplayed the threat’s significance.

“We don’t see or recognise in the sort of phrase or the status he described as anything that is a change to what they have currently as their nuclear posture,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“This is predominantly about Putin putting it on the table just to remind people, remind the world, that he has a deterrent.”

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