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Before the ship’s route was confirmed through the waters, Mr Raab clashed with his colleague over whether the ship should continue its course. Ahead of the incident, Mr Raab had warned Russia may try to exploit the HMS Defender’s passage through the Black Sea. Such was the deadlock over the decision for the ship to proceed the decision was sent to Boris Johnson to make the final call.
The Prime Minister approved plans on Monday and the Type-45 destroyer proceeded on course.
An insider told The Daily Telegraph: “The whole dispute was between Raab and Wallace, then it went to the PM for a decision.
“The decision was sent to Defender on Monday that she was to take innocent passage through those waters.”
Number 10 has refused to confirm whether the Prime Minister made the final decision on the vessel’s passage.
Whitehall insiders have also refuted any claim of internal disagreements within the Government.
The vessel’s passage through the contested waters sparked a rapid escalation in relations with Russia.
The HMS Defender was accused by Russian ships of violating territorial waters on Monday although the UK does not recognise the country’s annexation of Crimea.
After crossing through the Northwestern part of the Black Sea on an innocent passage mission, several warnings were issued by the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service.
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He said: “What can we do? We can appeal to common sense, demand respect for international law.
“If this does not help, we can bomb not only in the direction but also on target, if our colleagues do not understand
“I warn everyone violating the state borders of the Russian Federation under the slogan of free navigation, from such provocative steps, because the security of our country comes first.
“The territorial integrity of the Russian Federation is inviolable.
“The inviolability of its borders is an absolute imperative, we will stand guard over all this by diplomatic, political and if necessary, military means.”
Mr Johnson, however, attempted to calm relations and indicated the ship was pursuing freedom of navigation manoeuvres.
He said: “These are a matter for the MoD but if you want my view I think it was wholly appropriate to use international waters.”
“It was entirely right that we should indicate the law and pursue freedom of navigation in the way that we did, take the shortest route between two points, and that’s what we did.”
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