Britain ‘warned of Russian meddling in Chagos deal’ as Putin officers ‘whipped up help to return islands to Mauritius in bid to undermine the UK’
Britain was warned of Russian attempts to garner support among Mauritian politicians for a claim over the Chagos Islands, it has been revealed.
According to a source close to the discussions, government ministers were told Vladimir Putin‘s officials attempted to ‘undermine UK interests’ by encouraging Mauritian claims to the Chagos Islands.
A former Whitehall source told The Telegraph that Russia is ‘actively prompting’ the case for ‘Mauritian sovereignty’ in an attempt to make the UK look weaker.
But the source claimed Government officials have not taken the warnings seriously.
‘It is absolutely extraordinary that the Government has not taken two and two and made a very obvious four,’ they said.
Responding, the government’s Foreign Office said it was ‘well aware’ of the tactics made by ‘malign actors’ regarding the Chagos deal, but they were taken into consideration when the treaty was negotiated.
Sir Keir Starmer is looking to handover control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius before Donald Trump returns as US president.
The deal would see the UK give up its claim to more than 60 islands, including Diego Garcia, where the military base is located, and also the surrounding ocean.
According to a source close to the discussions, government ministers were told Vladimir Putin ‘s officials attempted to ‘undermine UK interests’ by encouraging Mauritian claims to the Chagos Islands
The Foreign Office said it was ‘well aware’ of the tactics made by ‘malign actors’ regarding the Chagos deal, but they were taken into consideration when the treaty was negotiated – pictured is PM Sir Keir Starmer
The deal would see the UK give up its claim to more than 60 islands, including Diego Garcia, where the military base is located, and also the surrounding ocean
Labour made the shock announcement in October that it was going to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which has been a British overseas territory for more than 200 years.
As part of the arrangement, the Diego Garcia base will remain operational for at least 99 years.
But the president of Mauritius who agreed it, Pravind Jugnauth, was ousted in the election and the deal has yet to be officially signed.
Serious doubt has been cast over the deal’s future following criticism of its terms by the new Mauritian prime minister and opposition from allies of Trump.
American support is crucial for the deal as there is a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in what is formally known as the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Meanwhile, the newly-elected Prime Minister of Mauritius has ordered a review of the new agreement signed by his predecessor.
Mr Ramgoolam and his allies accused the then-prime minister Pravind Jugnauth of ‘high treason’ and described the agreement as a ‘sell-out’ motivated by desperation.
Mr Ramgoolam said he ‘would like to have more time to study all the details of the agreement with a panel of legal advisers’ and has asked for an independent review of the confidential draft agreement with Britain.
The UK has argued the deal would safeguard Diego Garcia, but critics have questioned that argument.
The former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, said the Russian influence of the Chagos Islands handover ‘fits their playbook precisely’.
Newly-elected Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam met with Jonathan Powell, who is Labour’s incoming national security adviser and the UK envoy behind the agreement
Serious doubt has been cast over the deal’s future following criticism of its terms by the new Mauritian prime minister and opposition from allies of Mr Trump
Meanwhile, Ed Arnold a senior research fellow for European security at RUSI, told The Telegraph: ‘ The worry is that this deal benefits China – so in this case it might be that the Kremlin is actually doing Beijing a favour by acting on their behalf.’
Former PM Boris Johnson this week claimed giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands was akin to ‘spectacularly shooting ourselves in the foot’.
‘It’s driven by pure Lefty politics and it’s a tragedy that Starmer has bought into this nonsense,’ he told a podcast.
‘I don’t know what the Trump administration will do with it now, but perhaps they will find a way of impeding it.’
Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week hit out at ‘politicking’ over Labour’s agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
He insisted the sovereignty pact was a ‘very good deal’ as he played down claims it was on the verge of an embarrassing collapse.
Speaking to MPs on the House of Commons’ foreign affairs committee, Mr Lammy dismissed growing criticism of the agreement.
‘I’m very, very confident that this is a deal that the Mauritians will see, in a cross-party sense, as a good deal for them,’ the Foreign Secretary said.
