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Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now Putin\u2019s number two on the Kremlin\u2019s powerful security council, said British soldiers would become targets if they began training Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s warriors on Ukrainian soil.<\/p>\n
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps revealed that he had held talks with Army leaders about shifting an official British-led training programme “into Ukraine\u201d.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted Mr Shapps meant the training would take after the war in Ukraine .<\/p>\n
But the Kremlin seized on the confusion, with Medvedev warning Europe\u2019s biggest land war since 1945 could escalate even further and spiral into World War 3.<\/p>\n
He posted on Telegram: \u201cOne newly minted cretin – the British Minister of Defence – decided to transfer British training courses for Ukrainian soldiers to the territory of Ukraine itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is, turn your instructors into legal targets for our Armed Forces, knowing full well that they will be mercilessly destroyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd no longer as mercenaries, but precisely as British NATO specialists.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Putin’s ally raises WW3 fears as he warns UK troops may become ‘legal targets’<\/strong><\/p>\n Medvedev, who has repeatedly warned of nuclear war, said Mr Shapps was \u201cactively pushing us towards a Third World War.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sunak immediately clarified Mr Shapp\u2019s comments, insisting that British troops would not be deployed to Ukraine while the bloodshed continued.<\/p>\n He said Britain has been training Kyiv\u2019s troops \u201cfor a long time\u201d.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister said: \u201cWhat the Defence Secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s something for the long term, not the here and now, there are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict. That\u2019s not what\u2019s happening. What we are doing is training Ukrainians. We\u2019re doing that here in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace first floated the idea of Britain deploying troops to Ukraine in July.<\/p>\n He said it was \u201cperfectly legitimate and possible\u201d more soldiers will be sent to train Ukrainian troops in a rebooted Op Orbital.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n In 2015, British troops were sent to Ukraine to train Kyiv\u2019s forces after the Russian assault in the Donbas region.<\/p>\n They trained around 22,000 personnel during the seven year operation.<\/p>\n Mr Shapps visited a military base on Salisbury Plain on Friday where he was briefed by General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff, and other senior figures.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI was talking about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well.<\/p>\n \u201cParticularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things in country, and not just training. We\u2019re seeing BAE, for example, move into manufacturing in country.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m keen to see other British companies do their bit as well by doing the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/4988079.jpg?r=1696174394897\")
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