LONDON, January 6, Reuters -- Britain warned Moscow on Thursday that it was working with Western partners on high-impact sanctions against Russia's financial sector if it invades Ukraine.
Russia has over 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border, and President Vladimir Putin has demanded legally binding guarantees that NATO will not expand further eastwards, even though Moscow says it has no plans to invade its neighbour.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told parliament that we will not accept the campaign Russia is waging to subvert its democratic neighbours. They falsely cast Ukraine as a threat to justify their aggressive stance. Truss said Russia is the aggressor. NATO has always been a defensive alliance. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, drawing sanctions and condemnation from the West. Kyiv wants the territory back.
Truss said that a military incursion into Ukraine by Russia would result in massive consequences, including coordinated sanctions to impose a severe cost on Russia's interests and economy. Truss said that the UK is working with partners on these sanctions, including high impact measures targeting the Russian financial sector and individuals.
Putin says NATO's expansion eastwards since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 is a threat to Russia, which he says has nowhere left to retreat to. He warned the West not to ignore his concerns.
Truss said she would visit Kyiv later this month and that the situation was at a crucial moment with only one way forward: for Putin to step back from the brink.
Truss said that it is important that NATO is united in pushing back against Russia threatening behavior.
Britain, Truss said, was opposed to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea.
Europe must reduce its dependence on Russian gas, Truss said. Britain remains opposed to Nord Stream 2 and I'm working with allies and partners to highlight the strategic risks of this project.