The Russian Foreign Ministry on May 6 made its first ever threat to launch strikes against a NATO member, warning of a response to expected Ukrainian attacks supported by British forces and using British armaments against targets in Russia. This came after British Foreign Minister David Cameron stated that Ukraine could strike Russian territory with weapons transferred from his country, which sources from all sides have confirmed British personnel on the ground are helping Ukrainian forces to operate. “The response to Kiev’s attacks on the Russian Federation using British weapons could be attacks on military targets in Britain and outside Ukraine,” the ministry stated, calling on Britain to “think about the catastrophic consequences of London’s hostile steps and immediately refute Cameron’s statements.” Britain was notably the first country to equip Ukraine with long range cruise missiles after it transferred Storm Shadows for integration onto the country’s Soviet-built Su-24M and Su-27 aircraft.
The British ambassador in Moscow Nigel Casey was notably summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, and while neither side has revealed what was conveyed, it has been speculated that more specific details regarding Russian means of retaliation were given. In an apparent response to the threats made, the Italian Foreign Ministry was notably quick to state that it did not send weapons to Ukraine to attack Russian territory, indicating that the Russian threat was taken very seriously in some Western capitals. Like Britain, Italy has also sent cruise missiles to Ukraine. The French ambassador in Moscow Pierre Levy, was also summoned by the Foreign Ministry on May 6, which followed reports that significant new French personnel deployments, namely of French Foreign Legion ground units, had been made in Ukraine. Paris notably quickly denied having made such deployments despite multiple prior statements that this option was under consideration. These denials were also interpreted by a number of analysts as a response to the warnings made by Moscow.