THE RUSSIAN ambassador has been summoned to Westminster after Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the Ukrainian border.
Liz Truss called Andrei Kelin to the Foreign Office after the Russian President’s latest move overnight.
Putin ordered military forces to “maintain peace” in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Eastern Ukraine last night, which has been seen by the West as an invasion.
Hours earlier, Putin signed a decree declaring the two regions independent entities, and described them as “ancient Russian lands… managed by foreign powers.”
He also said Ukraine was a US colony with a puppet regime.
He warned that there was “more Russian irrational behaviour to come” and said: “I’m afraid all the evidence is that President Putin is indeed bent on a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine, the overrunning, the subjugation of an independent, sovereign European country and I think, let’s be absolutely clear, that will be absolutely catastrophic.”
The Prime Minister is due to address the Commons at 12.30, where he will announce sanctions against Russia, which he said are the “first barrage”.
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed this morning that Liz Truss had summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK to an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis.
He added: “There is no doubt that the deployment of these forces that we've seen reported in sovereign UK Ukrainian territory amounts to renewed invasion of the country. President Putin has sent his troops in he's broken international law, repudiated the Minsk agreements. We believe that Russia's actions overnight could well be a precursor to a full scale invasion.”
Ms Truss also issued a statement on social media about help for Britons in Ukraine.
She wrote: “The safety and security of British nationals in Ukraine is our top priority. All Brits should leave now via commercial routes while they are still available.
“We are bolstering our teams in the region to support British people as they leave and once they have crossed the border.”
Stewart McDonald, the SNP's defence spokesman, said the sanctions to be announced by Boris Johnson today had to be "sweeping and meaningful".
He said: "Sweeping and meaningful sanctions that properly target individuals and entities of strategic and economic interest - in concert with allies - is needed."
He suggested measures such as "visa bans, asset freezes, targeting of Russian disinformation networks - crucial to their case for, and prosecution of, war."
Earlier today Germany announced it would scrap plans for a major gas pipeline - Nord Stream 2 - in a significant blow to Russia.
Previously the country had been reluctant to change the project.
However Chancellor Olaf Sholz announced this morning that he would be pulling the plug on the undersea pipeline, meant to ferry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany.
It is owned by a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned Gazprom.
Mr Sholz explained: "Today, I asked the economy ministry to withdraw the existing report on the analysis of supply security" submitted to Germany's energy regulator.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel