On Tuesday, Britain vowed to “hit Russia hard” with targeted sanctions and tougher measures in the event of a full-scale invasion after the Kremlin ordered the deployment of troops in two Moscow-backed rebel regions in Ukraine.
After a morning meeting with security officials, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to submit “Britain’s first package of economic sanctions against Russia” later in parliament.
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“They are going to strike very hard at Russia, and we will do a lot more in the event of an invasion,” he told reporters. “Do not doubt that if Russian companies are not allowed to raise capital in the UK’s financial markets, if we remove the façade of Russian company ownership, ownership will hurt.”
Johnson said he may have to move on in anticipation of “even more irrational Russian behavior” as “all indications are that President Putin is indeed ready for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
Such a move would be “absolutely catastrophic”, he added, saying “it is absolutely necessary to make efforts to conquer another European country in order for Putin to be defeated”.
Such a move would be “absolutely catastrophic,” he added.
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Britain’s relationship with the Kremlin has grown cold after the death of a former Russian spy in London over radiation poisoning in 2006 and the assassination attempt on another double agent in the southwestern city of Salisbury in 2018.