‘Britain stands shoulder with
DOMINIC Raab yesterday raised fears Russia is on the brink of invading Ukraine.
The Deputy Prime Minister said Moscow poses a clear threat to Ukrainian democracy and there is a “very significant risk” it will also invade the country after sending 100,000 troops to the border.
Mr Raab urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to “step back from the brink”, warning Moscow faces “very serious severe consequences” if there is an incursion.
He said: “We are standing shoulder to shoulder [with Nato and Ukraine], saying there will be very serious consequences if Russia takes this move to try and invade, but also install a puppet regime [in Kiev].
“We wouldn’t telegraph all of the measures we would take, but it is important that this very clear message, not just from the UK but from all Nato and other interested countries around the world who want to uphold the rule of law, that there will be very serious, severe economic consequences.
“It will obviously involve a range of financial and economic sanctions…you can rest assured that the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary will be liaising with all of our partners and engaging, to make sure the response is robust and concerted.
Failed
“At the same time, what we really want is to get this message so clearly to Moscow so President Putin walks away from the brink.”
Mr Raab said world leaders need to be “very clear” that invasion would not be “cost-free, that there would be a price”.
He said it would be “extremely unlikely” that Britain would send in combat troops but could do everything “short of it”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss revealed at the weekend British intelligence showed President Putin was plotting to install a pro-Moscow leader in Kiev and named former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate to take over.
Mr Murayev, a media owner, lost his seat in the Ukrainian parliament when his party failed to secure five per cent of the vote in elections in 2019.
The Foreign Office named other Ukrainian politicians who it believes have links with the Russian intelligence services.
It said some of them had been in contact with Russian intelligence officers working on the invasion plan.
They include Mykola Azarov who served as prime minister under the pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych who was toppled in a popular uprising in 2014.
Mr Azarov fled to Russia where he established what was widely seen as a puppet government-in-exile.
Vladimir Sivkovich, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian