Russia to be hit with barrage of sanctions, says UK PM Johnson after meeting on Ukraine crisis

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK will hit Russia with a first barrage of economic sanctions warning that President Vladimir Putin is fixed on a fullscale invasion of UkraineHe was speaking soon after chairing an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Office Briefing Room A COBRA on Tuesday in the wake of Putins decision to recognise two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine The UK PM accused Putin of plainly violating Ukrainian sovereignty and the overrunning the subjugation of an independent sovereign European countryHes sent troops in hes broken international law hes repudiated the Minsk agreements and torn up the understanding from Budapest in 1994 that Ukraines territorial integrity would be respected said JohnsonHes completely torn up international law and we will immediately institute a package of economic sanctions which I think his people would expect Targeted not just at entities in Donbas in Luhansk and Donestsk but in Russia itself targeting Russian economic interests as hard as we can he saidThe COBRA meeting was held as UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said given that tanks have been seen near one of the rebel regions of Donetsk it can be concluded that the invasion of Ukraine has begun Details of the fresh sanctions against Russia are expected to be laid out in the House of Commons soonThe COBRA meeting follows widespread condemnation of Russias move which Johnson termed a violation of international law and an ill omen and very dark time indicating that things are moving in the wrong direction in the region Downing Street said the COBRA meeting would discuss the latest developments inUkraine and coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediatelyThe United Kingdom will be announcing new sanctions on Russia in response to its breach of international law and attack on Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity There will be severe economic consequences to its actions UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward told an emergency Security Council meeting on UkraineThis Council must be united in calling on Russia to deescalate immediately condemning aggression against a sovereign nation and defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine calling on Russia to respect its obligations under the Charter to the peaceful resolution of disputes Russia has brought us to the brink We urge Russia to step back she saidUK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has confirmed the sanctions which will use recent legislation to impose restrictions on people and organisations linked to Russia These will be further enhanced in the event of a feared invasion of UkraineEarlier this month the UK government passed new legislation that expanded its powers to impose sanctions on those directly linked to Russian actions in UkraineThe legislation gave the government powers to impose sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals in strategically significant sectors such as the chemical defence extractives ICT and financial services industriesSeveral of the UKs western allies including the US France and the European Union made similar statements condemning Putins move and promising sanctionsOn Monday evening Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to outline his grave concern and warn that he believed an invasion was a real possibility in the coming hours and daysDuring the phone call Johnson promised to explore sending further defensive support to Ukraine at the request of the countrys government as well as detailing sanctionsThe leaders agreed that the West needed to support Ukraine in the event of an invasion but should continue to pursue a diplomatic solution until the last possible second Downing Street saidRegardless of President Putins actions the UK would be steadfast in its full support of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity the Prime Minister said it addedOn Monday Putins actions were classed as escalation of conflict as he signed a decree recognising the independence of the selfdeclared peoples republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine Russianbacked rebels have been fighting Ukrainian forces in those regions since 2014 and the fears are that military forces could cross Ukraines borders to occupy the rebel regions recognised by RussiaPutin claims the troops heading into the two rebel regions will be completing peacekeeping functions Russias ambassador to the UN said the country was open to diplomatic solutions but also repeated Putins accusations blaming Ukraine for escalating aggressions Ukraine has strongly denied this and declared that it was not afraid and would not yield to RussiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever