The British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonannounced this Wednesday that his country will send more weapons to Ukraine due to Russia’s “threatening behavior” in the crisis unleashed in the region and in response to the imminent risk of a large-scale invasion.
“In light of Russia’s increasingly threatening behaviour, and in line with our previous support … we will soon provide an additional package of military support to Ukraine,” Johnson told the premier’s question session in parliament.
London has already sent anti-tank weapons to the Ukrainian Army to counter the threat of Russian forces on the country’s borders.
Johnson said there is still hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin “comes to his senses” and allows a de-escalation of the conflict, although warned that London is ready to intensify sanctions against the Kremlin.
More sanctions
The United Kingdom can impose more measures against “any Russian entity and any Russian individual”, and members of the Russian Parliament (Duma) could also be subject to sanctions, “if necessary”, added the prime minister, quoted by the BBC network.
The British Chancellor Liz Trussfor his part, warned that a Russian assault on Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, is “a very real possibility” and assured that there will be more sanctions against Russia in the event of a “full” invasion of the territory.
“Russia has surrounded Ukraine, so there could be attacks in various directions,” he said before adding that “there is nothing off the table in the event of an invasion” on a large scale.
In relation to the criticism leveled against London for the imposition of sanctions against Russian banks and individuals in response to the recognition of the independent republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Truss pointed out that they are “the harshest that have been imposed against Russia”.
“There will be more measures, especially regarding financial markets and relevant individuals”Liz Truss
He warned that London has had to keep “a few sanctions up its sleeve to use in case it becomes necessary and Russia increases its aggression against Ukraine.”
“There will be more measures, especially regarding financial markets and relevant individuals,” he said.
harder, the British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Putin “became completely dumb”and recalled that if once “the Scots Guard kicked Tsar Nicholas I’s ass in 1853 in the Crimea, it could always be done again.”
“Tsar Nicholas I made the same mistake as Putin, he had no friends or allies,” Wallace recalled.
London announced sanctions against five Russian banks on Tuesday (Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea Bank) after Russia decided to recognize pro-Russian breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine.
In today’s monitoring session, Labor Opposition Leader Keir Starmer questioned whether Russian broadcaster Russia Today (RT) should be allowed to continue broadcasting in the UK.
Starmer pointed out that RT is Putin’s “propaganda” tool, spreading “lies” and said he doesn’t see “the reason why it should be allowed to continue broadcasting in this country”, but Johnson replied that it is something that belongs to the media regulator (Ofcom).
“The Minister for Culture, Media and Sport (Nadine Dorries) has already asked Ofcom to review that matter, but what I will say is that we live in a democracy and we live in a country that believes in freedom of expression and I think it is important let Ofcom decide which media to ban instead of politicians. That’s what Russia does,” the prime minister replied.
Earlier this month, Germany’s media regulator banned RT from broadcasting in German, both on its website and on a mobile app, and in retaliation Russia closed the Moscow office of Deutsche Welle.
