Web Page sponsored by Harris Corporation
http://www.harrisforcemodernization.com
————————————————————————-
26 Jan 18. Russia lashes out at UK’s Gavin Williamson. Russia on 26 January said the British Defence Secretary had stepped beyond ‘the boundaries of reason’ after he accused Moscow of planning to create chaos in the UK that could ‘cause thousands and thousands of deaths’.
Britain’s Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson made the unusually alarmist comments in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, in which he also said Russia was spying on the UK’s critical infrastructure.
Igor Konashenkov, Russian defence ministry spokesman, said: ‘The minister’s fear of Russia photographing electric power plants or studying the routes of British gas pipelines is like something out of a children’s comic or the show ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus.’
The location of electric power plants and pipelines were as secret as ‘Westminster Abbey or Big Ben,’ the spokesman said.
Konashenkov added: ‘If these statements are an attempt by Wilson to attract attention to himself, he will be far from the first defence minister to try to score political points by playing up the Russian threat to the British.’
The strongly worded statement suggested Britain’s military staff be ‘recertified’ by the medical board if they were giving Williamson such information.
The interview was more likely an attempt to boost the defence ministry’s budget, Konashenkov added.
Williamson, who only became defence chief in November after his predecessor Michael Fallon resigned over allegations of misconduct, gave the interview at the outset of a new five-month defence review.
According to British reports, he is pressuring Finance Minister Philip Hammond to allocate more money to defence and scrap further cuts to Britain’s strained armed forces. (Source: Shephard)
25 Jan 18. South Korea minister says military option ‘unacceptable’ on North Korea crisis. Soyoung Kim South Korea’s foreign minister said on Thursday the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program must be resolved diplomatically, and she was certain Washington would consult her government first if a military option were to be considered.
Kang Kyung-Wha, South Korea’s Foreign Minister, attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
“The nuclear issue has to be solved through negotiations and diplomatic endeavors. This idea of a military solution is unacceptable,” Kang Kyung-wha said at a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The Trump administration has said all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, and officials say the president and his advisers have discussed the possibility of a limited strike. But debate on military options has lost some momentum in recent weeks after North and South Korea resumed talks ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in the South.
“I‘m assured that anything the U.S. administration does on this front is done in close consultation with us,” Kang said.
She declined to comment if Washington had given Seoul clear assurance but added: “This is our fate that is at stake. Any option that is to be taken on the Korean peninsula, cannot be implemented without us going along.”
In an earlier interview with Reuters, Kang said South Korea was prepared for “all contingency scenarios” in case North Korea stages another weapons test, even as the two countries conduct talks and mutual visits relating to the Olympics.
“We go into these discussions with a clear understanding of what might be possible,” Kang said, adding, “another provocation is always a possibility.”
Kang, who was in Davos to discuss recent progress in inter-Korean talks and to boost awareness of the Olympics, did not discuss details of the scenarios that South Korea was prepared for.
OLYMPICS
After their first formal talks in more than two years