'Bonkers': Experts Savage Putin's Claim UK Sending Nuclear Arms To Ukraine

Russian leader accuses West of not being interested in peace deal and said Britain plans to provide Kyiv with uranium

- Alastair Jamieson

China's peace plan could be the basis for settling the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin claimed yesterday as he accused Britain of using "nuclear" tank ammunition.

Speaking after marathon talks in Moscow with Xi Jinping, the Russian president accused the West of not being interested in a deal and said Britain plans to provide Kyiv with tank rounds containing depleted uranium.

"If that happens, Russia will respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component," he said. However, the Ministry of Defence dismissed it as deliberate misinformation while a weapons expert called it "bonkers". "The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades," a spokesperson said. "It is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform."

Weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commander of Britain's Royal Tank Regiment, said it was "reckless" of Putin "to try and suggest Britain is sending nuclear material" to Ukraine.