"Putin trying to distract from battlefield failures" says Foreign Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to "distract from his failure on the battlefield" by making unfounded accusations against the west and Ukraine, British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Friday (November 4).

Speaking to Reuters, the UK diplomat said the international community would not get deterred from doing the right thing. Instead, together with the other Group of Seven states, the UK will stay focused on the issues at hand, such as continuing to support Ukraine and ensuring food security for those in need.

"The message that we're sending here from the G7 is that we will continue to support Ukrainians defending their homeland. And we will also make sure the disruption to global food supplies is addressed so that the poor people of the world aren't further put under pressure because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," said Cleverly.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, its grain exports have slumped, with the closing of its Black Sea ports driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

End of October, Russia said it would continue to make the case to the international community that it believed Ukraine intended to detonate a "dirty bomb" with radioactive contaminants.

Kyiv and its Western allies have not only rejected Russia's allegation but also voiced concern that Moscow is using it as a pretext for a further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Speaking on the outages that occurred in late October on the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland, Cleverly said it was important to defend the country in cyberspace as well as the physical space, "and we will do both."

Earlier in the week, British media reported a Russian submarine was being tracked near the islands where an underwater cable was damaged, causing a breakdown in communication between the Islands and the Scottish mainland as well as the Faroe Islands.

Cleverly declined to comment on what might have caused the outages.