'Utter rubbish': Putin dismisses MI5 chief's claims about Russia planning to cause chaos in UK & Europe

Amid the brewing tensions between Russia and the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed reports that claim the country is planning to cause chaos across Britain and Europe. While speaking on the closing day of the BRICS Summit, the Russian leader called the claims made by MI5 intelligence chief Ken McCallum, ‘utter rubbish’.

Earlier this year, the British intelligence chief warned that the Russian military intelligence is “on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets.” McCallum also mentioned that his team had “seen arson, sabotage and more”.

On the closing day of the three-day summit which was being hosted in the Russian city of Kazan, Putin made it clear that the situation “on the streets of European cities” was caused by the actions of European authorities, Sky News reported. It is pertinent to note that this year’s BRICS Summit was touted as the Kremlin’s “largest foreign policy event to be ever held by the country.”

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Putin says Russia was ready to consider the options to end the conflict

Meanwhile, the Russian president also expressed his openness to consider options to end the ravaging war against Ukraine. “We are prepared to consider any options for peace agreements based on the realities on the ground. And are not ready for anything else,” he said.

The BRICS alliance which initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Not only this, countries like  Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members of the powerful regional bloc.

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Despite the West’s efforts to isolate Russia, the grand summit was attended by 36 nations from around the world. During the closing ceremony, Putin also addressed the claims made by the United States and Ukraine that North Korea has sent troops to Russia, which he didn’t deny.

However, the Russian leader made it clear that it was ultimately up to Moscow how to operate within the framework of an article of Russia’s partnership deal with North Korea, which deals with mutual defence. Earlier this week, the US maintained that it had seen evidence that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine. The West went on to refer to the move as a significant escalation in the war.

“Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something,” Putin alluded when asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements.