Russian President Vladimir Putin responded with one short sentence when asked at a press conference whether Moscow might strike military facilities in the UK in response to British arms supplies to Ukraine.
"That's a secret. A military secret." Military secret is not a "yes". And not a "no". It leaves us hanging. And that, I suspect, is the point.
Those two words feel like psychological pressure from the Kremlin: to keep Britain guessing - and stressing - over Moscow's intentions, as well as to encourage the UK to think twice about its staunch support for Ukraine.
It reminds me of a newspaper article I read a few days ago. Moskovsky Komsomolets had suggested that UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham should be seeing Russia, not in his dreams, "but in his nightmares".
Scary language. But short on detail about what those nightmares will look like. We cannot conclude that Russian missiles are about to be used against targets in the UK.
But look what's happening elsewhere in Europe. Germany now says Russia was responsible for last month's drone attack at Leipzig airport.
Putin accused Germany of "planting the evidence". But German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described "the well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe".
Could such "operations" now be stepped up in the UK? Yet it wasn't just Britain that received veiled threats at Putin's press conference. So did the West in general. Putin referred to Western countries as sharks.
"If anyone tries to drag us down the food chain, to gobble us up or devour us, they might get punched in the teeth," he said. "Russia is ready to do that, despite the rapidly growing appetites and teeth of these sharks."
FULL REPORT AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j50n131mo
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