UK Armed Forces chief: We are not on the cusp of war with Russia

The world is not on the cusp of war and the UK is not about to be invaded despite tensions with Russia, the head of the UK Armed Forces has assured.

Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has offered what he called a "sense of perspective" on speculation over the future of Nato, conscription in Britain, and the capability of the nuclear deterrent.

Hoping to reassure anyone alarmed by commentary in recent weeks, Adm Sir Tony told security experts while speaking at the Chatham House Security and Defence Conference: "We are not on the cusp of war with Russia.

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"We are not about to be invaded. No-one in the Ministry of Defence is talking about conscription in any traditional sense of the term."

He told the audience: "Britain is safe. We are safe because we are part of Nato, the world's largest and strongest alliance and also because we are a responsible nuclear power."

He added: "These are dangerous and uncertain times, but Britain has what it needs to succeed."

'Britain is safe'

Following the recent Trident missile test failure, labelled an anomaly by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the head of the UK Armed Forces pledged that Britain still operates as a fully secure nuclear power.

Adm Radakin says his confidence in the system is borne from nearly 200 tests as part of a shared pool of UK and US missiles.

The Armed Forces chief also believes that the comments in January from the outgoing head of the British Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, which said Britain should train a "citizen army" – were, in fact, a hypothetical reflection on how dangerous the world could become – with no current plans for conscription.

Additionally, with US elections looming, and the potential future of Nato during a Trump administration making headlines, the admiral says they have been "a little too exaggerated" and that calls for greater defence spending work in favour of the alliance.

The defence select committee's doubts over UK warfighting readiness were acknowledged, but the military chief insists progress is being made, and the big picture is that Britain is safe.