UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM PRIME MINISTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined on a “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Jonson said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at Dawning Street following a high-level security meeting dubbed COBR, Johnson said that “the sad thing is that in every turn in this crisis, the UK’s pessimistic predictions have been vindicated.”
He further stated: “We said that there will be false flag operations and there have been false flag operations; we said that there will be provocations in Donbas and that’s exactly what we’re now seeing.
“And I’m afraid all the evidence is that President Putin is indeed bent as you said, just now on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the overrunning the subjugation of an independent sovereign European country.”
It would be “absolutely catastrophic,” Johnson said.
Putin announced the recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk in a speech on Monday evening that also attacked Ukraine’s government and the US, and accused the West of ignoring Moscow’s core security concerns.
Later, he ordered the deployment of troops to “maintain peace” in the separatist regions.
Johnson said Russia now plainly violated Ukraine’s sovereignty and broke international laws.
“He (Putin) has sent troops in, he’s broken international law, he’s repudiated the Minsk agreements, and torn up the understanding from Budapest in 1994 that Ukraine's territorial integrity would be respected.”
The UK premier vowed economic sanctions against Russia in the wake of Moscow’s move last night recognizing Ukraine’s breakaway regions.
“He’s (Putin) completely torn up international law and we will immediately institute a package of economic sanctions, which I think his people would expect,” he said.
“Targeted not just at entities in Donbas, in Luhansk and Donetsk, but in Russia itself targeting Russian economic interests as hard as we can,” he added.
Johnson will set out the details of the UK’s sanctions in a House of Commons statement later on Tuesday.
In a statement on Monday night, the Downing Street said a “significant package of sanctions” would be introduced immediately.
Meanwhile, UK’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace warned of the “incredibly serious” situation in Ukraine, saying: “All of us should worry.”
Russia has “effectively annexed” some of Ukraine’s land, he said a ministerial meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force.
Wallace added: “This is a sovereign state, a democratic state in Europe. All of us in Europe should worry and not hesitate to take whatever action we need to deter President Putin from undermining both NATO, but also Europe and, more importantly, our values.”