If Russia invades the Ukraine Vladimir Putin has been warned that Russian billionaire oligarchs will have their assets frozen.
Boris Johnson has said that a package of sanctions are to “strategically target Russia’s commercial interests” which will be “enacted the moment the first Russian toe cap crosses further into Ukrainian territory.”
The Prime Minister was in the Ukraine on Tuesday and told MPs in the House of Commons today that Russia has around 125,000 troops with military hardware near the border.
The Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has previously told Sky News there will be “nowhere to hide for Putin’s oligarchs involved in propping up the Russian state.”
“Any company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia would be able to be targeted,” Truss said.
Tensions remain on a knife edge between Russia and Europe as Russian troops and fighter jets are still massing on the Ukrainian border.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters, “We don’t preview what the sanctions package might be.
“I think the Prime Minister was very clear yesterday about the automaticity of our sanctions package that we have ready to go.
“It will severely damage the economy of Russia and, as the foreign secretary made clear, be targeted as well at the Russian elite, but beyond that I’m not going into it.”
The spokesman added, “We do have a package of sanctions ready – we’ve been working on that with our NATO allies, so we have both discussions with NATO allies and we have our own approach as well.
“So, we are ready to act but, vitally, it is important our strong preference remains that Vladimir Putin pursues diplomatic efforts.”
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