The Russian bogeyman

UPDATE: Russia Poses "Greatest Threat" To Britain, Foreign Minister Says

An "increasingly aggressive" Russia poses the "single greatest threat" to Britain's security, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday.

London South East,

10 March, 2014

Russia's recent aggression was "a stark reminder that it has the potential to pose the single greatest threat to our security," Hammond said in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based security think-tank.

"The rapid pace with which Russia is seeking to modernize her military forces and weapons, combined with the increasingly aggressive stance of the Russian military, including Russian aircraft, around the sovereign airspace of NATO states, are all significant causes of concern," he said.

Gathering information on Russia's "capabilities and intentions will remain a vital part of intelligence efforts for the foreseeable future," Hammond said, adding that British intelligence services were recruiting more Russian speakers.

He said the 21st century was so far "marked by uncertainty and disorder."

"In the place of ideologically-driven expansionist states we are now faced with a diverse range of threats, from state-sponsored aggression, to international terrorist organisations, to 'lone wolf' self-radicalised terrorists, each with the intent, and sometimes the capability, to challenge our national security and damage our interests."

Hammond said potential state adversaries included "a North Korean regime intent on developing nuclear weapons ... or the, at best, ambiguous nuclear ambitions of Iran, or the rapid military modernisation and clear disregard for the rule on international law demonstrated by Putin's Russia."

"President Putin's actions - illegally annexing Crimea and using Russian troops to destabilise eastern Ukraine - fundamentally undermine the security of the sovereign nations of Eastern Europe," he said.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned last month of a "real and present danger" that Russia could try to destabilize the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was "as great a threat to Europe as Islamic State," Fallon said.