British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rreceived today in London his peers from Canada and the Netherlands, Justin Trudeau and Mark Rutte, with whom they agreed to work to build a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putinand I promisedtougher sanctions against Moscow.
“Justin, Mark and I have been discussing that today. And later we will talk with the leaders of the US, France and Germany to further coordinate our action,” the prime minister told reporters at the end of the meeting.
He argued that the new “International Support Group for Ukraine” will coordinate the efforts of the international community to provide long-term and unwavering assistance now and in the future and will encourage more countries to join them.
“This is the time for Ukraine’s friends to create a coalition of military, humanitarian, economic and defensive support to ensure that Putin fails,” he stressed.
Along these lines, Johnson announced another 230 million dollars in aid from the United Kingdom for Ukraine, of which 100 million dollars will be delivered directly to the Ukrainian government, which brings the total support during the crisis to around 500 million dollars. .
According to the British premier, Russia’s complaint to the International Criminal Court for war crimes is the largest ever seen.
He also assured that the international opposition to Russia will only be successful if it remains united.
“After 12 days it is already clear that Putin has made a miscalculation. He has underestimated the Ukrainians, their heroic resistance and their leader. He has underestimated the unity of the West. And we will continue to strengthen that unity in the coming days to ensure that Putin fail in this catastrophic invasion of Ukraine,” he added.
Tomorrow Johnson will also receive the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, countries that are already experiencing first-hand the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war with the massive influx of refugees.
The British government will also urge the international community to impose more sanctions on Russia and Johnson is expected to put more pressure on international leaders to take further action to get Russia out of the Swift payment system.
In this sense, the British Prime Minister today presented an international action plan with the aim of mobilizing a humanitarian coalition for Ukraine, maximizing economic pressure on Russia, continuing to seek the diplomatic path towards de-escalation and beginning a rapid campaign to strengthen security and safety. resilience throughout the Euro-Atlantic zone, among other points.
In recent days, the UK has increased humanitarian and military support to Ukraine and stepped up diplomatic efforts to isolate Russia, and nations around the world have imposed the largest sanctions package in history against such a major economy.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine 12 days ago there has been an unprecedented wave of international condemnation around the world and last Wednesday 141 nations voted to denounce Russia’s actions at a special session of the United Nations.
The British government also announced an asset freeze and travel ban on several Russian millionaires in recent days.
For his part, the British minister for Europe, James Cleverly, said today that Russia’s latest offer of a ceasefire and an evacuation route for civilians was “unimaginably cynical.”
In an interview on BBC Breakfast, he said the UK would “believe it when it sees it” and added that the most humane thing Russia could do was to “end this completely illegal and completely unjustified invasion of Ukraine”.
On the other hand, British lawmakers today are expected to vote on the entire Economic Crimes Bill in one sitting.
The bill will establish a new register for foreign property owners in the UK to declare and verify their identities.
Its aim is to prevent foreign criminals and oligarchs from using agents to set up companies or buy property from them in the UK.
In addition, the new measures will make it easier for UK authorities to sanction people, giving them more time to carry out investigations, as well as protection against prohibitive legal costs.
In that sense, Foreign Minister Liz Truss said that the bill “will give us the opportunity to apply even more severe sanctions against Putin and his regime.”
Labor said they will support the legislation, but want the proposed deadline for owners to register to be cut from six months to 28 days.
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