"Now is therefore the time not only to provide long-range permission for our Storm Shadow missiles but to do so without awaiting a decision from Washington," former U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps argues.
"We condemn the U.K. politician's groundless and irresponsible vilification of China," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that while he has personally warned about the possibility since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the U.S. has seen no evidence either in the past or "to date."
Speaking at the London Defence Conference on May 22, Grant Shapps said he was declassifying new intelligence to reveal the "quite significant" development and called on the world to "wake up" to the new threat it poses.
The West's current stance on the war in Ukraine and delays in military aid are "completely nonsensical," the U.K's defense secretary said on May 19.
The comments follow reporting by the Sunday Times that U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron had allegedly personally pitched a peace plan to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps urged Europe not to restrict imports from Ukraine, pointing out London's decision to extend tariff-free and quota-free imports from Ukraine for most goods for another five years.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps' scheduled visit to Odesa was canceled after U.K. intelligence officials informed him that Moscow was aware of his travel plans.
Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal of a Royal Air Force aircraft used to transport U.K. Defence Minister Grant Shapps, a government source and journalists travelling with Shapps told Reuters on March 14.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on March 8 that the U.K. has "stepped up to do more than ever" and pushed for other Western allies to do the same.
