British troops will not shoot down Iranian drones launched by Russia, as they shot down drones launched at Israel. This was stated by Lord David Cameron, the head of the British Foreign Office, on LBC radio.
The host asked the lord a question from the audience, in which he was asked if the UK shot down Iranian drones in the Middle East, why couldn't it do the same for Ukraine? To which Cameron replied that it would escalate the conflict.
"That's a very good question, we have done more than any other country individually to help Ukrainians. We have trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers, we were the first to give them anti-tank weapons, long-range artillery and tanks. The difficulty in what you are suggesting is that if you want to avoid an escalation of a large-scale European war, I think the one thing you need to avoid is a direct clash between NATO troops and Russian troops. There would be a danger of escalation," Cameron replied.
To which the host asked a clarifying question - but what prevents shooting down drones without direct clash with Russian troops. To this, Cameron replied that Ukraine needs air defense systems the most.
"Air defense systems are actually more effective. What Ukraine needs now is not Western planes in their skies trying to shoot down targets. What they desperately want, and what we need to give them, is more air defense systems. Patriot defense systems. It has been said that other European countries do not have Patriots, but the Americans do. And I think there is a rather interesting movement at the moment to send more Patriot systems to Ukraine. "It's what they want, it's what they need, and it's what we have to give them," Cameron summarized.
