Boris Johnson to respond to Russian invasion with ‘overwhelming’ sanctions
Boris Johnson’s chief of staff, Steve Barclay, has said the UK will respond to Russia’s attack on Ukraine with “overwhelming” sanctions, as the prime minister prepares to address the nation about the crisis.
Speaking to MPs at Westminster, Barclay said he was appalled by what he called “an unprovoked attack” and the UK and its allies would respond decisively.
He added that the prime minister would address parliament later, “to outline the UK response, including overwhelming sanctions”.
After speaking to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy,early in the morning, the prime minister said: “This is a catastrophe for our continent.” He said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had “chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction”.
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said she had summoned the Russian ambassador “to meet me and explain Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”. She is expected to speak to her counterparts in various countries throughout the day.
Following a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee at 7.30am on Thursday, Johnson is expected to give an address to the nation, followed by a call with G7 leaders in the afternoon and a statement in the House of Commons at 5pm.
Ukraine’s president declared martial law, while Russia’s military said it had targeted Ukrainian airbases and other military assets and not populated areas.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the Cobra committee meeting, chaired by Johnson, discussed the response to the “horrific attacks”.
Britain, in common with other Nato allies, has said it will not fight Russia, because Ukraine is not a Nato member. But the UK has supplied arms to Kyiv and has already announced limited economic sanctions.
The UK previously said it expected
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