It's rare that the head of MI6 and the head of the Armed Forces both speak publicly in the same week. But that's what's happened in the past few days, with both warning of the imminent threat the UK faces from Russia. In this episode, The Crisis Room asks: is it time for the UK - and the West as a whole - to admit that we are at war with Russia?
Amber explains the conversations she was involved in about how to deal with Russia during her time as Home Secretary - and whether enough has changed since then for Keir Starmer to take a tougher approach now. Meanwhile, Mark and Marc P unpick Putin's grey-zone warfare tactics - from sending drones to disrupt European airspace, to deploying spy ships in British waters - and discuss which specific measures the UK should take to prepare for more Russian hostility in 2026.
Later, the team each choose their defining crisis of 2025 - and look ahead to the crises we can expect in the year ahead.
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