British Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is set for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and promises that British sanctions will hurt Russia, the BBC reports.
Britain will impose sanctions against five Russian banks and three Russians called friends of Vladimir Putin - billionaires Boris and Igor Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko. This was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, speaking in Parliament.
The sanctions include freezing possible assets and a ban on entry to the United Kingdom. Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Industrial Savings Bank, the Black Sea Development Bank, and Genbank will also fall under sanctions. According to Johnson, Britain will impose new sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine.
The first package of sanctions from the EU will also be presented tonight. This is according to a statement by Charles Michel, head of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, released Tuesday.
"An informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, chaired by the High Representative, will take place at 4 p.m. today. After that, the first package of sanctions will be formally presented this afternoon. The relevant bodies will then meet to finalize the package immediately," the statement said.
"The EU has prepared and is ready to take additional measures at a later stage if necessary in light of further developments," the statement said.
According to European Commission sources, sanctions could be imposed on 27 Russian senior officials, civilians and military personnel involved in the decision to recognize the independence of the two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, and 351 State Duma deputies who initiated an appeal to Vladimir Putin for such recognition.
Japan has also said it is ready to join the United States and other industrialized G7 countries in imposing sanctions against Russia if the Russian president gives the order to invade Ukraine. This was reported by the Japan Times.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called Russia's recognition of the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" and sending troops there "unacceptable actions and violation of international law.
According to him, Japan is ready for a tough response, which could include sanctions. "We will closely monitor how the situation develops," Kishida said.
Recall that in the evening of February 21 it became known that US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on sanctions against the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" in connection with the recognition of their independence by Russia.
