Sir Richard Moore has warned that failing to support Ukraine could have dire consequences (Image: Getty)
Withdrawing military support for Ukraine could lead to a European security crisis, Britain’s top spy has warned .
Sir Richard Moore, head of MI6, slammed ’s “dangerous and beyond irresponsible” nuclear sabre-rattling.
He admitted the knock-on effects of winning the war in “could hardly be more serious”, adding that the Kremlin “will not stop there”.
Many in Europe fear President-elect will withdraw military support for Kyiv in a bid to force the Ukrainians to accept a deal with Putin.
Sir Richard conceded he has “never seen the World in a more dangerous state”, with the threat from and Iran intensifying.
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Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have vowed to support Ukraine (Image: Getty)
Outlining the threats facing the West, the intelligence chief said: “In 37 years in the intelligence profession, I’ve never seen the World in a more dangerous state.
“And the impact on Europe – our shared European home – could hardly be more serious. If Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing to a vassal state, he will not stop there.
“The cost of supporting is well known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher.
“We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling; to sow fear about the consequences of aiding and challenge Western resolve in so doing.”
Russian dictator has repeatedly warned Western military support for would lead to nuclear war.
Moscow last week used an intercontinental ballistic missile to strike a target in Dnipro, and the tyrant has threatened to strike the Ukrainian capital – Kyiv – with Oreshnik missiles.
Putin has also claimed Britain would be at war with if London allows Kyiv to fire British long-range Storm Shadow missiles into the Kursk region.
Moscow has pummelled ’s energy grid in revenge for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with long range missiles, Storm Shadow, American ATACMS and Russian Scalps.
Russian defence minister, Andrei Belousov, arrived in North Korea on Friday and hailed “expanding” ties with Pyongyang.
The US and its allies have said North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to , with some of those troops already fighting on the frontline.
Sir Richard warned : “Together, Europe and North America have many times ’s GDP and defence budget.
“75 years after its foundation, we have a larger and stronger Nato than when Putin invaded .
“Our allies in northern and eastern Europe are sharing their expertise from their long and bitter experience as ’s neighbours.
“We know that we all need to do more.
“That’s why the British Government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence.
“Putin put in hock to Tehran, Beijing and Pyongyang. I do not doubt the transactional consequence of that arrangement and the succour it brings to . But it is a transaction: there is no real trust or respect, so its roots are shallow. There are limits.”
And the head of MI6 insisted the West’s “collective strengths will outmatch and outlast Putin’s morally bankrupt axis of aggression”.
Sir Richard spoke alongside Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s external intelligence agency, the DGSE at an event marking 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, a pact between Britain and France that bound the age-old rivals together as military and diplomatic allies.
Western security officials suspect that Russian intelligence is trying to destabilize ‘s allies through disinformation, sabotage and arson.
Moscow has been linked by Western officials to several planned attacks in Europe, including an alleged plot to burn down Ukrainian-owned businesses in London, and to incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes. In July one caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another ignited in a warehouse in England.
Lerner agreed that “the collective security of the whole of Europe is at stake” in . He said Britain’s experience tackling in the wake of recent attacks like the 2018 Salisbury Novichok poisoning, was invaluable to French intelligence seeking to defuse Russian actions.
Sir Richard, known as “C”, said “the menace of terrorism has not gone away”, with ISIS “expanding its reach” after years of military defeats in Syria and Iraq.
He added: “The Taliban, the hosts of Al-Qaeda, once again rule Afghanistan and we have yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalising impact of the fighting and terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East after the horrors of October 7.
“Iran’s allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows, but the regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us, especially friends of France and the UK in the region, and the Iranian regime maintains its efforts to eliminate dissidents, at home and abroad.”