Blaise Metreveli, head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6, will deliver her first public speech since taking office on Monday, December 15, in which she will focus on threats from Russia.
Excerpts from the upcoming speech were published by Reuters, the Financial Times, The Guardian and other media.
Metreveli is the first woman to head MI6 in the history of British foreign intelligence, a post she took up in July. She joined the agency in the late 1990s, holding senior management positions and rising to become director of Department Q, the unit responsible for technology and innovation.
Metreveli is expected to say the UK is facing a new “era of uncertainty” in which the rules of conflict are changing, particularly in light of the ongoing fighting in Ukraine. “Exporting chaos is a feature, not a flaw, of Russia’s approach to international engagement,” she will say.
The new MI6 chief will call Moscow an “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist adversary” and stress London’s continued support for Kiev: “Our support is unwavering. The pressure we are putting on Ukraine will continue.“
The Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, will make similar comments.
According to him “the situation is more dangerous“ than at any time“ in his career and will call on the UK to “step up its efforts”, according to the Guardian. Knighton will also point out the threat Russia poses to NATO.
Metreveli and Knighton's statements come after a series of incidents in Europe that authorities in the region have blamed on Russia and nationals of other countries linked to it, including the arson of a warehouse in London in 2024 and the damage to a railway line in Poland in November last year. Similar accusations have been made against Russia over drones that violated European airspace and disrupted airport operations.