LONDON — Britain must establish direct military hotlines with Moscow to prevent an accidental clash from spiralling into war, British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting announced, warning that severed communications leave both nuclear-armed powers exposed to dangerous miscalculation.
The silence is deliberate. No serving British defence secretary or chief of defence staff has spoken with a Russian counterpart since Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. British attempts to quietly reopen backchannels with senior Russian defence leadership hit a wall. Moscow rebuffed them outright.
Streeting branded Russia's clandestine operations across Europe as "state-sponsored terrorism," pointing to hostile actions designed to test Western red lines without triggering open battle. The military friction is physical and mounting. A Russian warship fired warning shots at a British yacht in the English Channel this summer, while Russian combat aircraft buzzed Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales at hazardous proximity. Arson attacks, cyber assaults, and deliberate interference with undersea communications cables have deepened the standoff.
London now finds itself diplomatically sidelined while key European allies maintain active channels with the Kremlin. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul sat down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September—their first direct encounter since 2022—following accusations that Russian operatives targeted Leipzig airport with drones. French President Emmanuel Macron dispatched diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne to Moscow in February after holding a direct phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2025.
And Washington is moving faster still. The Trump administration is convening trilateral security talks between American, Russian, and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. In contrast, Russian intelligence chief Alexander Bortnikov labelled Britain the "puppet master of Ukraine's secret services" in March, hardening the Kremlin's posture of dismissing London as a belligerent adversary unworthy of direct talks.
Streeting also directed a warning across the English Channel, pressing European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas and Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius not to lock British contractors out of regional arms programs under proposed "Made in Europe" rules. Speaking ahead of the Atlantic Future Forum aboard HMS Prince of Wales in Oslo, Streeting declared that economic isolation among Western partners will shatter NATO cohesion at the exact hour European defense requires unified strength.