Boris Johnson: PM announces new sanctions the UK will put on Russia

Updating the Commons on his talks with G7 leaders and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister announced 10 sanctions including asset freezes and stopping imports.

The full list of sanctions are:

• All major Russian banks will have their assets frozen and will be excluded from the UK financial system. This will stop them from accessing sterling and clearing payments through the UK. This includes a full and immediate freeze of VTB bank
• Legislation will stop major Russian companies and the state from raising finance or borrowing money on UK markets
• Asset freezes will be put on 100 new individuals or entities
• The Aeroflot airline will be banned from landing in the UK
• There will be a suspension of dual use export licences to cover things which can be used for military purposes
• Within days the UK will stop exports of hi-tech items and oil refinery equipment
• There will be a limit on deposits Russians can make to UK bank accounts
• The UK has an intention to "work with allies" to shut off Swift payments but "its a challenge", Johnson said
• Similar financial sanctions will be extended to Belarus for its role in the assault on Ukraine
• The UK will bring forward parts of the Economic Crime Bill before the Easter recess.

Johnson said: “Overall we’ll be imposing asset freezes on more than 100 new entities and individuals, on top of the hundreds we’ve already announced.

“This includes all the major manufacturers that support Putin’s war machine.

“Furthermore, we’re also banning Aeroflot from the UK.”

Johnson said the Economic Crime Bill will include reforms to Companies House and a register of overseas property ownership, while a “new dedicated kleptocracy cell” will be set up in the National Crime Agency.

The Prime Minister went on: “Putin will stand condemned in the eyes of the world and of history. He will never be able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands.

“Although the UK and our allies tried every avenue for diplomacy until the final hour, I am driven to conclude that Putin was always determined to attack his neighbour, no matter what we did.”

READ MORE: Why is Russia invading Ukraine, what is Nato and which countries are members?

The Prime Minister added: “Now we see him for what he is – a bloodstained aggressor, who believes in imperial conquest.

He said the UK ambassador continues to work from the embassy in Lviv.

He said the G7 agreed to work in unity to “maximise the economic price that Putin will pay for his aggression”, saying that must include “ending Europe’s collective dependence on Russian oil and gas that has served to empower Putin for too long”.

He also said “countries that together comprise about half the world economy are now engaged in maximising economic pressure on one that makes up a mere 2%”.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Vladimir Putin is a “dictator, he is an imperialist, he is a tyrant”.

Blackford said “our thoughts and our support” are with the Ukrainian people, and described “acts of Russian violence, aggression and tyranny” and a “full-scale invasion” and “an act of war”.

He said: “This is first and foremost an unprovoked attack on the peace and the innocence of Ukraine and of its people. But it’s equally an attack on international law, an attack on our European democracy, an attack on the peace that our continent has so carefully built over the last 75 years.

“President Putin and President Putin alone bears responsibility for these horrific acts. And it is he and his Kremlin cabal who must pay a massive price for their actions.

“It is important to say to the Russian people that we know that Putin is not acting in their name. He is a dictator, he is an imperialist, he is a tyrant. He is as much a threat to his own people as he is to all of us.”

He went on: "Let’s not fall for the Kremlin propaganda that they are prepared to soak up any sanctions. If we act now – if the sanctions are targeted enough, swift enough and severe enough – if we impose nothing less than economic isolation – Putin and his cronies will suffer the consequences of their actions."

After giving his backing to the new measures and sanctions outlined by the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer called for further aid, including humanitarian support for Ukraine.

The Labour leader added: “There are changes we must make here in the UK. For too long our country has been a safe haven for the money that Putin and his fellow bandits stole from the Russian people. It must now change.

“Cracking open the shell companies in which stolen money is hidden will require legislation – bring it forward immediately Prime Minister and Labour will support it, along with the other measures that the Prime Minister has just outlined.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Monday.”

Sir Keir replied: “Thank you, and we will support it.”

READ MORE: Glasgow to cut ties with Russian city in solidarity with Ukraine

G7 leaders condemned Russia’s “unprovoked and completely unjustified attack” on Ukraine as a “serious violation” of international law.

"So let us act together, stand together – and most of all – let us all stand with the people of Ukraine."

In a statement following a conference call by the heads of the leading industrial nations including Boris Johnson, they called on President Putin to withdraw his forces.

“This crisis is a serious threat to the rules-based international order, with ramifications well beyond Europe,” they said in a joint statement.

“There is no justification for changing internationally recognised borders by force. This has fundamentally changed the Euro/Atlantic security situation.

“President Putin has re-introduced war to the European continent. He has put himself on the wrong side of history.

“We call on the Russian Federation to stop the bloodshed, to immediately de-escalate and to withdraw its forces from Ukraine.”