LONDON (Parliament PoliticsMagazine) – As he prepares to welcome world leaders for discussions in Downing Street, PM Johnson claims Vladimir Putin is attempting to “rewrite the rules” of international order “by military force.”
On Monday, Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will pay a visit to Number 10.
Mr Johnson will meet the leaders of the V4 group of central European countries – Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic – on Tuesday to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine.
“Putin must fail and be seen to fail in this act of aggression,” Mr Johnson said in a New York Times column. It isn’t enough to declare our support for the international rules-based order; we must also defend it against a determined attempt to change the rules by armed force.
“Everyone in the world is watching.” The people of Ukraine, not future historians, will be our judges.”
Important developments include:
- The number of Ukrainian refugees could approach 1.5 million this weekend, according to aid organisations.
- In Russia, Mastercard and Visa have ceased operations.
- President Biden emphasised his commitment to support Ukraine with economic assistance, humanitarian and security in a phone call with President Zelenskyy.
Mr Johnson, in the same article outlined a six-point plan for the international community to address the situation, which includes humanitarian and military aid, economic sanctions, diplomatic efforts, and a fresh push to bolster security across Europe.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss admitted that Western countries were too slow to alter their attitudes toward Russia, particularly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury in 2018.
She told the Sunday Express, “I believe that the whole West should have done more earlier,”
As Putin planned invasions into neighbouring nations, enough wasn’t done. There was a strong desire to take an entirely new strategy now, she said.
She also stated that while household energy bills and petrol prices may rise, the cost of not holding Putin accountable is incomparable: “The cost of not stopping him now would be disastrous.”
Labour is pressing the PM to introduce new legislation to prevent Russian oligarchs from pursuing frivolous high-cost legal claims in British courts in order to evade sanctions.
Previously, the so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation were used to intimidate and censor journalists and activists.
“We are already behind the rest of the world in applying sanctions against oligarchs backing Putin’s murderous assault of Ukraine,” Sir Keir Starmer warned.
They cannot be allowed to sue their way out of sanctions while the UK media is censored. This country does not operate on the basis of law enforcement. The press freedom of the United Kingdom should be loved, respected, cherished and safeguarded, he added.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has cautioned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to underestimate the West, saying that if friends banded together and refused to be frightened, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will fail.
Mr Wallace told The Sunday Telegraph that the West “must not be terrified of Putin,” who he described as “acting irrationally and inflicting horrors on Ukraine.”
