Defence Secretary Grant Shapps visited Ukraine (Owen Humphreys/PA) (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Grant Shapps has been forced to scrap a trip to Odesa in Ukraine after British intelligence warned him that the Russians had become aware of his plans. The cancellation of plans, as reported by the Sunday Times, was confirmed by a source close to Mr Shapps.
While flying to Poland from RAF Northolt last week, he learned that a convoy carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had narrowly escaped a Russian missile strike in Odesa on March 6.
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Ukrainian authorities said that five people died in the blasts. This news increased the risk to Mr Shapps' safety from substantial to critical, according to the newspaper, which had access to the delegation.
Mr Shapps, along with Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, and a small group of British officials, took an overnight train from Poland and arrived in Kyiv on March 7.
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They were there for discussions with Mr Zelensky and senior members of his wartime administration.
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READ MORE: Russia jams signal on RAF aircraft as Grant Shapps flies over crucial exclave
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with President Volodymyr Zelensky in January (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
However, they had to cancel their planned trip to Odesa after discovering the Kremlin knew about it. "Putin has shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless," Mr Shapps told the Sunday Times. He returned to the UK via Poland instead.
"The fact that he came perilously close to essentially assassinating two western leaders, it doesn't matter whether that is deliberate or accidental. What the hell is he doing, and why the heck would the West allow him to do that kind of thing? ".
This was Mr Shapps' second trip to Ukraine as Secretary of Defence and his third visit since the war began in February 2022.
Meanwhile, the West's enthusiasm to support President Zelensky seems to be dwindling.
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Europe is finding it hard to supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, and a $60 billion (￡47 billion) US support package is stuck on account of political disagreements in Washington.
Donald Trump's loyal Republicans have delayed the funding package in Congress for months, creating doubts about future US financial aid for Ukraine if Trump returns as president.
In the latest battlefield update, Ukrainian troops retreated from the key eastern city of Avdiivka last month, where they had been fighting against a powerful Russian attack for four months despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned.
Mr Shapps expressed hope that his visit would serve as a "wake-up call" to urge, convince, and even shame the world into taking action.
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Senior British military figures believe Western allies, including the UK, should increase their investment by hundreds of billions of pounds to outpace Russian President Vladimir Putin who has increased defence spending by nearly 70%, reports the Sunday Times.
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Mr Shapps has said this week that we should spend more money on the military, up to 3% of all the money our country makes.
Rishi Sunak, who is in charge, has said he wants to spend more on defence too, but only when we can afford it.
When someone asked if the Prime Minister should promise to spend more on defence soon or at the next election, the Defence Secretary told the newspaper: "Yes."
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