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Thomas Burrows and Larisa Brown — Daily Mail Jan 19, 2017

Challenger tank on freight car. Click to enlarge

Challenger tank on freight car. Click to enlarge

The British Army sent a tank through the Channel Tunnel for the first time as the military prepares to respond to Russian ground forces in Europe.

Soldiers sent tanks, the Warrior fighting vehicle and recovery vehicles across to France on train wagons in the early hours on Wednesday.

They made the 40-minute return journey a few hours later.

The forces have used the Channel tunnel to ferry supplies and equipment but never armoured vehicles.

A Challenger tank and matching recovery vehicle, a Warrior armoured fighting vehicle, a Warrior recovery vehicle and a reconnaissance vehicle were all sent across the Channel during the exercise.

The army is said to be looking for ways to transport its tanks once bases in Germany are shut down at the end of the decade.

If they are needed by Nato’s rapid reaction force, they are likely to be moved by rail.

The British military has its own railway line that joins up with the national network, but the Army uses a private contractor, Leidos, for movement through the Channel Tunnel.

A defence source said: ‘This was not a charge to Eastern Europe. You have to practice before you try and move hundreds of tanks through the tunnel.

‘It is testing the viability of using the tunnel should we be required to move our armoured troops.’

However the move comes as Britain’s relations with Russia are in deep freeze after Moscow blamed MI6 for the dossier of sordid claims about Mr Trump last week.

Then the US president elect suggested in an interview with MP Michael Gove this week that he could do a deal with Putin even if he refuses to back down on the Ukraine.

His comments sent shockwaves across the foreign office and Britain’s allies – who fear an emboldened Putin could launch a full-scale invasion on its western flanks.

The Baltic States, Poland and the Ukraine fear Russia could wage a covert war against them and have pressed ministers in Nato to protect their borders with troops.

Britain is sending tanks, drones and 800 troops to Estonia as part of the biggest military build-up on Russian’s borders since the Cold War later this year.

The Ukraine has been fighting against pro-Moscow rebels and Russian troops in the country’s east for three years in a conflict which nearly 10,000 people have been killed.

Foreign office sources said Britain would not budge on the EU sanctions imposed on Russia unless Moscow stopped acting aggressively towards the Ukraine.

EU sanctions require Russia to withdraw its troops from the country and end its support to the separatists.

Similarly, US sanctions on businessmen and companies were imposed by the Obama administration on Moscow in 2014 over the Ukraine crisis.

Under current terms, they will not be lifted unless Moscow completely withdraws Russian troops from the Ukrainian Donbas.

However on Monday, Mr Trump suggested he would lift the sanctions if Putin agreed to reduce nuclear arms – irrespective of whether he withdraws troops from the Ukraine.

The distinct policies have put the UK on a collision course with Mr Trump before he has even entered the Oval office.

Mr Trump also declared he was ready to ‘trust’ Putin and he believed Nato was ‘obsolete’.

His comments fuelled fears of a deeper relationship between the US and Russia under Trump which risks leaving Britain out in the cold.

There are fears that if the US – which contributes the greatest manpower by far to the Nato alliance – takes a softer stance on Putin then he could exploit it.

Speaking about the movement of vehicles through the Channel, an MoD spokesman said: ‘The Army successfully conducted an exercise to test the viability of using the Channel Tunnel to move vehicles and equipment to mainland Europe, adding to the existing range of options available and increasing the agility of our Armed Forces.’

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