Russian threat is nothing but 'Nato fiction', claims Diane Abbott - as she's branded 'Putin’s useful idiot'
The Labour MP has been branded "naive" after playing down the threat posed by Putin
Diane Abbott has branded Russia's threat to the West 'Nato fiction' - as she claimed the warnings were simply 'complete capitulation to Trump’s demands for more military spending'.
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Making the comments on Wednesday, Ms Abbott played down the threat posed by Putin - a move that saw her branded “Putin’s useful idiot” by one fellow MP.
Taking to social media platform X, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington wrote: “The imminent threat from Russia is a Nato fiction to justify their complete capitulation to Trump’s demands for more military spending. The increase should not go ahead.”
The comments triggered widespread backlash from campaigners, defence experts and fellow MPs alike, with Kemi Badenoch branding the comments "reprehensible".
Posting on X, Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty said Abbott was “playing the role of Putin’s useful idiot”.
Read more: Smirking Putin says it's a 'military secret' whether Russia will launch attacks on British soil
The imminent threat from Russia is a NATO fiction to justify their complete capitulation to Trump's demands for more military spending.
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) September 2, 2026
The increase should not go ahead.
Fund rise in military spending from tax on middle earners, says Resolution Foundationhttps://t.co/ygSmhbaxvI
“To rail against increased defence spending by claiming the threat Russia pose is ‘a Nato fiction’ shows she is dangerously out of touch,” he said.
“Over four years into the war in Ukraine, and with escalating sub-threshold activity, we are agreed that increasing defence spending is a matter of national security. It beggars belief that a senior Labour politician could be so naïve.”
Her comments come just weeks after Ms Abbott was brought back into the party by Andy Burnham, after being suspended from Labour in 2023 and again in 2025 after anti-Semitism rows.
Following the comments, a spokesman for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Those views are reprehensible. Ukraine is an innocent party in this. Everyone should be foursquare behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression.”
Meanwhile, the Ukraine solidarity campaign group insisted: "There are legitimate debates to be had about defence spending.
"Denying the Russian regime is a threat to democracy all over the world is not legitimate, particularly when the speaker describes Russia's war on Ukraine as "the NATO campaign against Russia"
Ms Abbott, who remains the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, lost the Labour whip last year after claiming that Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities experience prejudice rather than racism in a letter to the Observer.
It comes hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen to taunt Britain with a smirk as he refused to rule out striking defence manufacturers in British territory.
Asked on Wednesday whether he was weighing up possible strikes on British military sites, Putin's response was restrained.
"Could British military industrial facilities located on British territory become military targets?" a reporter asked.
In a taunting response, Putin said with a smirk on his face that it is a “military secret”.