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With giving Ukraine blueprints for long range missiles, are we slowly creeping towards war with Russia?
Foreign PolicyEnded 25 Aug

With giving Ukraine blueprints for long range missiles, are we slowly creeping towards war with Russia?

Yes 60%No 40%331 votes cast

Today the UK government authorised defence firm MBDA to share classified technical information on British components of the Storm Shadow/SCALP long-range cruise missile with Ukraine. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced this in Kyiv on Ukraine's Independence Day, enabling local assembly and production of the 250km-range weapons already used by Ukraine against Russian targets. The decision follows France's similar move and comes amid warnings from Western intelligence that Russia may test NATO with limited attacks or hybrid operations in coming years.

Jump to opinions· 11

“Yep. It is inevitable!” was the starkest Yes mood on the page, and the verdict followed it: a clear majority judged that sharing the Storm Shadow know-how amounts to creeping towards war. But the chamber was not united in its reasoning; the winning side offered fewer arguments than No, and its strongest voices pulled in sharply different directions.

One Yes case treated escalation as unavoidable, while another rejected the question’s premise altogether: “RUSSIA is intentionally creeping towards war with Europe”. A more conspiratorial voice blamed “Military & Financial Complexes” and politicians allegedly seeking “forever wars”, giving the winning camp a tone that ranged from fatalism to deep institutional distrust.

The No side’s most-respected argument made the opposite case in strategic terms: “Enabling Ukraine to produce its own sovereign defence does not escalate war; it deters unprovoked aggression.” Other voices were more confident than subtle, insisting “Russia has no ability to strike us” and that Moscow would not attack a NATO country because it would be “suicide for them”.

The two sides often talked past each other. Yes voters treated the transfer of capability as another step into direct confrontation; No voters treated it as a means of preventing a wider one, with one arguing that “we need to support Ukraine and allies as much as possible to prevent this”. That puts the result inside the live argument over deterrence, alliance credibility and the risks of arming Ukraine without ever quite answering the underlying fear of miscalculation.

The verdict was clear; the argument was not.

“Yep. It is inevitable!”

YES case · Lixhul · 3 respects

“Enabling Ukraine to produce its own sovereign defence does not escalate war; it deters unprovoked aggression. Under Article 51 of the UN, nations have a right to self-defence against illegal invasion. Leaving them less defensive would only embolden authoritarian expansionism and threaten European stability. The counterpoint is valid, though: we must always err on the side of caution and manage esc”

NO case · BenL · 3 respects

60%
Yes
majority
40% No
Votes331
Skipped7
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% voting yes, by leaning

50% yes among H. Left voters, 18 of them
46% yes among Left voters, 54 of them
39% yes among C. Left voters, 36 of them
46% yes among Centre voters, 28 of them
68% yes among C. Right voters, 41 of them
70% yes among Right voters, 134 of them
76% yes among H. Right voters, 25 of them
H. Left
Left
C. Left
Centre
C. Right
Right
H. Right
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Debate

11 Opinions

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The Bounded-Authority Right
Voted noRight lean

I don’t think Russia would ever be stupid enough to start a war with the UK.

rjane· 420
The Public Power Architect
Voted noLeft lean

Russian are seemingly trying to start WW3 but we need to support Ukraine and allies as much as possible to prevent this, to show Russia that aggression will not be tolerated and we stand with our allies

Lord· 401
The Classroom Custodian
Voted noCentre lean

Russia has no ability to strike us. They can cause problems, but in no way can they fight a war on two fronts.

Fletch· 474
The Unionist Custodian
Voted noRight lean

Russia will not attack a NATO country it would be suicide for them. You only need to look at the damage Ukraine has inflicted to know Russia militarily would not last. Yes she has nuclear warheads but even Putin is not mad enough to attack us. Personally I think the quiet influence of China is more of an issue due to their brand of Communism.

JohnnyBoy· 471
The Housing Sovereigntist
Voted yesRight lean

Military & Financial Complexes want forever wars to keep a broken Financial system from totally collapsing. Our Politicians are puppets installed to do the bidding of Globalists who want a war with Russia. Isn’t it funny that Starmer nor Burnham ever had policies or £££ for us yet can instantly find £Billions for Ukraine NGOs Migrants Islam EU Climate Change & Foreign Aid etc. They won’t fund our Armed forces - who will protect us from Islam when they are in Russia? Treason.

The Sovereignty Steward
Voted noC. Right lean

What would Russia get out of a war, its all just brinksmanship. The mistake of all of this was not to just put Allied troops in Ukraine and march to Ukraine's borders. The Korean war is the example of how you can figh t in a territory and never be at war with each other. Since Allied troops and China clearly fought but were never at war

The Open-Border Green Insurgent
Voted yesLeft lean

I voted yes, but i believe the framing of the question is leading and missing context. I would say that RUSSIA is intentionally creeping towards war with Europe, not the other way around. This is because of Russia's aggression; let's not forget that.

The Full Spectrum
Voted noLeft lean

No, we won't be making them. Russia is doing quite well on it's own to get WW3 going. A war that no sane person wants.

BenL· 417
The Revered
Voted noC. Left lean

Enabling Ukraine to produce its own sovereign defence does not escalate war; it deters unprovoked aggression. Under Article 51 of the UN, nations have a right to self-defence against illegal invasion. Leaving them less defensive would only embolden authoritarian expansionism and threaten European stability. The counterpoint is valid, though: we must always err on the side of caution and manage escalation risks when dealing with unpredictable regimes like Russia.

Lixhul· 810
The Sovereign Gatekeeper
Voted yesRight lean

Yep. It is inevitable!