Kremlin lashes out over US, UK sanctions threat

LONDON/MOSCOW: UK urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to “step back from the brink” over Ukraine, warning that any incursion would trigger sanctions against companies and people with close links to the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the threat of such measures, echoing moves outlined by a senior US official following a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, would amount to an attack on Russian businesses.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the British warning “very disturbing”, and said such statements undermined Britain’s investment attractiveness and would backfire by hurting British companies.

“It’s not often you see or hear such direct threats to attack business,” Peskov said. “An attack by a given country on Russian business implies retaliatory measures, and these measures will be formulated based on our interests if necessary.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to travel to Ukraine and will also speak to Putin by telephone.

“What I will say to President Putin, as I’ve said before, is that I think we really all need to step back from the brink, and I think Russia needs to step back from the brink,” Johnson said.

The United States, the European Union and Britain have warned Putin of tough sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine after gathering tens of thousands of troops near the border.

A senior Biden administration official said Washington and its allies have prepared a list of Russian elites in or near Putin’s inner circle for hitting with economic sanctions.

“The individuals we have identified are in or near the inner circles of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilising behaviour,” the official said in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US has developed specific sanctions packages for both Russian elites who meet the criteria and their family members, and these efforts are being pursued in coordination with US allies and partners, the official said.

Russia denies planning to attack Ukraine and is demanding security guarantees including a promise by Nato never to let Kiev join the alliance.

Lavrov, Blinken to speak by phone on Tuesday Russia said on Monday that foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would hold a telephone conversation with US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

“Lavrov and Blinken will have a telephone conversation on Tuesday,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters, adding there were no plans for a face-to-face meeting.