Britain wanted Ukraine to join Nato but was blocked by other members of the defence alliance, Ben Wallace has said. The defence secretary made the comments during a hoax call with two Russian pranksters last week.
The comedians, known as Vovan and Lexus, managed to speak to Wallace by pretending to be the Ukrainian prime minister. The pair, whose previous victims include Sir Elton John and the Duke of Sussex, are drip-feeding video excerpts from the call to the frustration of western officials, who have accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the prank.
The Ministry of Defence has written to YouTube, asking the company to delete the videos, saying they create a “substantial risk to UK national security”. A defence source said: “YouTube is in danger of aiding and abetting the Russian state propaganda machine.” The latest videos published online yesterday show how Wallace was duped into discussing Ukraine’s ambitions for joining Nato — one of the key justifications of President Putin for the Russian invasion. Wallace said that Britain was supportive of Ukraine joining Nato, but had encountered resistance from other members of the defensive alliance.
“Britain was one of those countries that wanted you to join Nato,” he said. “There are 30 nations in Nato and that is part of the problem — it’s not easy to get every single one to say yes.”
In a separate video, Wallace said British volunteers who travelled to fight in Ukraine were “Walter Mittys, people who are thrill-seekers who haven’t really been in the army”. The phone pranksters, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, have promised to release a full video of the conversation with Wallace soon.
