UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that the UK is ready to harden its package of sanctions against Russia if Vladimir Putin orders troops to commence a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, ordered Russian soldiers into two breakaway regions held by Russian-supported separatist groups on Monday. On Tuesday, UK premier Boris Johnson announced a wave of sanctions against Russia as a responsive measure.
The sanctions included freezing the assets of five banks and three Russian billionaires, who will be subject to travel bans.
While some MPs believe the measures should be stronger, Truss said that it was an important part of the UK’s strategy to keep more severe sanctions “in the locker”, defending the steps that have already been taken.
Truss told the BBC: "The sanctions we're putting in place are coordinated with the United States, they're coordinated with Europe, to make sure that Vladimir Putin cannot play divide and rule amongst the allies.
"We've shown we are united and we will escalate those sanctions in the event of a full invasion into Ukraine."
In a piece written for the Times, Truss reiterated that the UK will “keep turning up the heat” on Russia if further troops are sent into Ukraine by widening the scope of sanctions to hit more banks, more wealthy Russian individuals and large businesses.
Truss and Johnson have also separately called for the Union of European Football Associations [UEFA], the governing body for association football in Europe, to move this year’s Champions League final match from its planned venue of St Petersburg, Russia, in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
A summit will be held on Wednesday with regulators and finance bosses to address how to make the UK's sanctions as effective as possible, while the PM is also expected to confirm further military backing for Ukraine on the same day.
The sanctions will also apply to Russian parliamentarians after legislation is passed in the UK Parliament to put the measures into effect, and UK businesses will be barred from any operations in the rebel-held areas around Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia recognised as independent from Ukraine earlier this week.
Truss also confirmed that the Russian state and major Russian firms will not be allowed to accumulate funds in UK financial markets, and some high-tech exports to Russia will be stopped.
Meanwhile, Johnson has accused Putin of denying the sovereignty of Ukraine with his move to recognise the breakaway regions, adding that he was “establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive”.
By way of further sanctions, Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has suggested that Russia be excluded from the Swift global financial system, in order to devalue the Russian rouble.
Lord Kim Darroch, the former UK ambassador to the US, separately said that the initial package of sanctions was “pretty modest” in comparison to those issued by Europe. Germany has already suspended the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to cut off a source of Russian income which would have come from selling more natural gas to Europe.
Sanctions issued by the EU and US have included restrictions on the Russian state from financing its debt from their banks and putting bans on firms within their countries from doing business in the rebel-held regions of Ukraine. Key Russian individuals and firms have also been targeted.
Elsewhere, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that the economic and financial sanctions against Russia must be long and strong enough to strategically reduce the ability of the Russian state to finance its armed forces and sustain its presence in Ukraine.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
