The U.K. is not ruling out sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin if Russia attempts to invade Ukraine, U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday.
“We are not ruling anything out,†Truss said on Sky News as she was asked whether she would consider individual sanctions on Putin.
“We will be bringing forward new legislation to make our sanctions regime tougher so we are able to target more companies and individuals in Russia,†she said. The sanctions would “target individuals, they would target financial institutions.†U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the plan a “hard-hitting package of sanctions†in an address to MPs on Tuesday.
Truss’ comments echo an earlier statement from U.S. President Joe Biden, who said on Tuesday that he could see himself imposing personal sanctions on Putin in the event of an attack on Ukraine.
Plans for a new set of sanctions are being drawn up between Western allies, but officials don’t necessarily agree on when to trigger those penalties.
With 100,000 Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border, tensions keep escalating between Moscow and NATO countries. On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was watching with “great concern†the potential deployment of 8,500 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe. In an attempt to “never give up dialogue with Russia,†French President Emmanuel Macron will speak by phone with Putin on Friday.
