Britain says Putin’s war threats are ‘claptrap’

LONDON — The British government dismissed on Wednesday Vladimir Putin’s claim that Europe wants a war with Russia as “Kremlin claptrap.”

The Russian president accused Europe on Tuesday of being “on the side of war” and made clear Moscow is “ready right now” to fight a war just hours before peace talks with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

But Keir Starmer’s spokesperson dismissed Putin’s comments as “yet more rhetoric” that is “as dangerous as it is wrong.” They said “European nations are united in supporting Ukraine’s right to self-defense under international law” and “NATO’s ready to respond to any threats with unity and strength.”

NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine after U.S.-Russia talks in Moscow failed to reach any breakthrough.

“This is yet more Kremlin claptrap from a president who isn’t serious about peace,” the No. 10 spokesperson added.

Starmer was asked at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday whether the U.K. was ready for war.

“We all know that Putin is the aggressor here,” the prime minister told MPs. “We all know that Putin is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement.”

He said NATO members “have to continue to put pressure on in every conceivable way,” which includes “supporting Ukraine with capability and resource.”

Talks between Moscow and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening were “extremely useful, constructive, and informed,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, though he added the two sides were left “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis.”