Ukraine conflict: ‘We’ll make it impossible for Russia to raise money in London’ warns Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, Britain will impose severe financial sanctions on Russian individuals and companies making it ‘impossible’ for them to raise finance in London.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, the Prime Minister told world leaders that an invasion of Ukraine by Russia would bring about the ‘destruction of a democratic state’ and urged for unity among the UK’s Western allies.

Mr Johnson said intelligence shows a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv is looking ‘increasingly likely’ and vowed to block money linked to the Kremlin from being laundered through the City of London.

If Russia launches an attack on Ukraine, the shock would ‘echo around the world’, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told world leaders at Munich security conference“If Ukraine is invaded, and if Ukraine is overwhelmed, we will witness the destruction of a democratic state – a country that has been free for a generation with a proud history of elections,” he said.

“As I speak to you today, we do not fully know what (Russian) President Putin intends, but the omens are grim and that is why we must stand strong together,”

“I believe that Russia would have absolutely nothing to gain from this catastrophic venture, and everything to lose.

“And while there is still time, I urge the Kremlin to de-escalate, to disengage its forces from the frontier and to renew our dialogue.”

As the UK urges Moscow to engage with talks to prevent a conflict, Mr Johnson described how the international shock of a Russian attack would “echo around the world”.

He said: “If Russia invades its neighbour, we will sanction Russian individuals and companies of strategic importance to the Russian state, and we will make it impossible for them to raise finance on the London capital markets.

“We will open up the Matryoshka dolls of Russian-owned companies, and Russian-owned entities to find the ultimate beneficiaries within.”

Western nations have warned Russia could invade Ukraine imminently, with around 150,000 of its troops near the border.

US President Joe Biden said Washington has reason to believe Russian forces “intend to attack” Ukraine in the coming days, including targeting the capital Kyiv – a city with a population of 2.8 million people.

Asked whether he agreed with the US assessment, the Prime Minister told broadcasters in Munich: “I think certainly things are in motion, but the question is whether it can all be pulled back, and whether the president of Russia is still able to call this operation off.”

Mr Johnson said he believed there was “still time” for a diplomatic solution, but he fears ongoing violence involving Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas region “could well be the prelude to bigger action.”

Russia has repeatedly denied having plans to invade, saying troops are conducting military exercises in the region and have accused the West of “hysteria”.

Mr Johnson has defended the deployment of Nato troops to countries bordering Ukraine as a response to the “actions of President Putin”.

“The total deployment of fewer than 5,000 troops posed no conceivable threat to Russia, and it is only in the last few weeks in response to the current crisis, that we have dispatched reinforcements, although still in numbers that constitute no possible threat,” he said.

“Until 2014, European allies were cutting their defence budgets and shrinking their armed forces perhaps faster than was safe or wise.

“And to the extent that this has changed, it is because of the actions of President Putin and the tension that he has created.

“Nato forces are now closer to Russia’s border. It is in response to his decisions and the justified concerns. They have provoked our allies.”