UK Defence Secretary: Putin to Declare World War II in a Couple of Days By Richard Miller (London)

Vlad Putin has certainly dropped down my hit parade. If he declares World War III in a couple of days, he will be off my Christmas card list for this year.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/vladimir-putin-declare-new-world-26828251

“Vladimir Putin could declare a new world war in the coming days, the UK defence secretary has warned.

Ben Wallace said that the Russian leader may start a “mass” mobilisation and use May Day to announce a war on the world’s “Nazis”.

Putin started the Russian invasion of its neighbour on February 24 saying that it was a special operation to rid Ukraine of Nazis.

Since then Ukrainian cities have been pummelled by shelling in a battle which government minister Liz Truss has said could go on for 10 years.

And in the face of the West providing money and armaments to Ukraine, Russia has referred to its nuclear capabilities in threats to not get involved. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the “danger is serious” of a nuclear war.

Now Mr Wallace told LBC that Putin having "failed" in most of his objectives in the war with Ukraine may declare war on the "world's Nazis".

He said: “I would not be surprised . . . that he is probably going to declare on May Day that ‘we are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people’.”

He continued: “Putin, having failed in nearly all objectives, may seek to consolidate what he's got . . . and just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country. We have to help Ukrainians effectively get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back.”

At the same time around 8,000 British Army troops are to take part in exercises across eastern Europe to combat Russian aggression in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War.