Adml Sir Tony Radakin cited a 'belligerent' North Korea among the conflicts inflaming hostilities around the world.

The Head of the British Armed Forces has warned that “simmering tensions” around the world “are coming to the boil”.

Adml Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, cited a “belligerent” North Korea, a “more assertive” China and last October’s “barbaric attacks in Israel” as some of the conflicts that have inflamed hostilities around the world.

Speaking at the Ash Carter Exchange in Washington, Sir Tony said: “All around the world long-simmering tensions feel like they are coming to the boil.”

He added: “The world is undeniably becoming much more dangerous. It has gone from being competitive to contested and now – as we saw from Iran’s attack against Israel – it is increasingly combative.”

The military chief condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, which he said shows no sign of ending, but he insisted that Russia was operating on a “downward trajectory”.

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He said Moscow had made itself “weaker and more isolated” on the world stage and that Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet has “scattered” as it has been forced to hide from Ukraine’s naval drones.

Sir Tony said: “What we have seen unfold in the past few years is a battle of ideas: between an authoritarian and belligerent Russia and a dynamic, democratic Ukraine; between a reckless Iran and its terrorist network on one side, and the responsible nations of the Middle East on the other; between a China that believes it can dominate and coerce, and those nations that share a commitment to an international system that is open and free.”

Sir Tony warned that Russia has been able to make “modest tactical gains”, regardless of the effect it is having on Russia’s national economy, as well as Putin’s use of Iranian drones and North Korean ammunition in Ukraine.

He also said another challenge was the “Axis of Evasion” between Moscow, Beijing and Tehran which has seen them collude in subverting oil sanctions by having created an alternative market of sanctioned oil.

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His speech comes less than 24 hours after Putin was sworn in again as Russia’s president for the fifth time. During his inauguration speech in the Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin blamed the West for triggering his invasion of Ukraine and said that Russia needed to stay strong.

Another cause for concern is tensions in the Balkans, as he stated: “Kosovo and Serbia are at loggerheads.”

In an interview with The Telegraph in March, Albin Kurti, Kosovo’s prime minister, called for more Nato troops to be sent to Pristina to better protect it from Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s president, who he claims has an interest in retaking the country.

Despite such volatilities, Sir Tony insisted that “Nato is stepping up”.

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“Since the 2014 Wales Summit, defence spending by Europe and Canada has increased by more than $600 billion,” he said.

“Our collective defence budget is three-and-a-half times more than Russia and China combined.”