British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said that Britain and other NATO countries have no intention of shooting down drones and missiles that Russia is using to attack Ukraine because they do not want an escalation of the conflict and a direct confrontation with Moscow. Cameron answered questions before British radio LBC.
The journalist asked why RAF planes could not do for Ukraine what they did during Iran's attack on Israel.
British authorities earlier confirmed that British fighter jets were involved in covering an Iranian missile attack alongside the Israeli military and its US, French and Jordanian allies.
"I think the problem with what you are proposing is that if we want to avoid escalation in terms of a wider European war, then direct contact between NATO troops and Russian troops must be avoided. This could cause an escalation," are Cameron's exact words.
The journalist asked Cameron again: "We did it for Israel, why not for Ukraine?" In response, the foreign minister called it an "interesting question" and added that using fighter jets "is not necessarily the best way to shoot down missiles and drones; for this it is more effective to use air defense".
He called for the transfer of more air defense systems to Ukraine, in particular Patriot complexes.
Cameron also noted that Britain "has done more than other countries to help Ukrainians".
He recalled that British specialists trained over 60,000 Ukrainian servicemen, and London was the first to send anti-tank weapons, long-range artillery and tanks to Kiev.