UK Says Sanctions on Russia Should Be Intensified

U.K.'s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, UK's Prime Minister, said on Wednesday that to persuade Russia to withdraw all of its troops from Ukrainian territory, sanctions against the Kremlin should be intensified.

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During the hearing in Parliament, the Prime Minister was asked if he was referring to Crimea as well, to which he answered that all Russian troops should leave Ukraine. Johnson remarked to a parliamentary committee that the West needed to increase the pressure of sanctions on Russia until its troops leave Ukraine. "I certainly don't think that you could expect the G7 to lift sanctions simply because there is a ceasefire in Ukraine," he highlighted. "Again, that goes straight into [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's playbook."

"In my view, we should continue to intensify sanctions with a rolling program until every single one of his troops is out of Ukraine," Johnson continued to say. He disclosed that London authorities seek to "go up a gear" in its military aid to Ukraine. On the other hand, he dismissed the idea of giving Ukraine the equivalent of NATO's Article Five, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all.

He stated that Ukraine can be granted benefits from a different security concept "based on the idea of deterrence by denial." He said that Ukraine would be armed so much with Western countries' support, and "the quills of the porcupine have become so stiffened that it is ever-after indigestible to Putin."

"That is the path we are on," Johnson stressed; he also defended the U.K. government's visa program to bring over Ukrainians fleeing the fighting.

The Prime Minister made clear the U.K. government's objective is not to change administration in Russia, referring to his earlier statement when he said that he understood U.S. President Joe Biden's frustration when he said last week that Putin could not stay in power.

"We are simply setting out to help protect the people of Ukraine and protect them from absolutely barbaric and unreasonable violence."