Retired CIA director tells UK to 'lead NATO' in bid to shift to modern warfare amid Russian threats
It comes after Russia accused Britain of "playing with fire" over its support for Ukraine
A former CIA director has warned that Britian must lead NATO into a "new era of war" as the threat from Russia ramps up.
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Retired US Army general David Petraeus claimed that the challenge facing the West is "unprecedented” and "generational".
It comes weeks after a Kremlin advisor suggested Britain could be attacked by "unknown sources" for producing drones and weapons for Ukraine.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Mr Petraeus said the UK could play a key role in revamping NATO's strategy amid the heightened threats.
He said: "Every generation is tempted to believe that its challenges are unprecedented.
"Occasionally, however, a generation is correct. I believe ours is such a generation."
General Petraeus also claimed Britain is already well prepared for any threats, but questioned the speed at which the US was developing its own position against Russia.
He said: "That now presents Britain with another opportunity, to become the first major Western nation to organise its defence institutions around the new concept of warfare that Ukraine has been pioneering and in doing so [can] help lead the transformation of Nato itself."
LBC revealed earlier this week that Britain is already being attacked by Russia "on a daily basis" through sabotage, cyber attacks and other covert operations designed to stay below the threshold of open war.
Colonel Philip Ingram said the latest threat against British defence firms should not be dismissed as routine Kremlin sabre-rattling, warning that Moscow has increasingly turned to proxies and so-called grey-zone tactics as its confrontation with the West deepens.
Col Ingram told Henry Riley on LBC: "Putin [has] been attacking us on a daily basis. What they're threatening is nothing new."
It comes after Andy Burnham’s first visit to Ukraine coincided with a deal to share blueprints for long-range Scalp missiles so that Ukraine can manufacture them at home.
The Prime Minister revealed he was planning on travelling to the US in September to lobby Donald Trump on support for Ukraine’s defence.
General Petraeus, a four-star general who served 37 years in the US military, was invited to deliver the speech by the Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean.