01:22
Satellite images show new deployment of military vehicles in Belarus
We earlier reported a cache of satellite images showing a new deployment of more than 100 military vehicles and dozens of troop tents in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border.
The images – published by private US company on Tuesday – reportedly show a new field hospital has been added to a military garrison in western Russia close to the border with Ukraine, according to a statement from Maxar Technologies, which has been tracking the buildup of Russian forces for weeks.
The images could not be independently verified by Reuters however they have been widely shared by correspondents reporting from Ukraine.
01:09
Johnson to face calls for tougher action on Russia
British prime minister Boris Johnson has been urged to impose tougher sanctions on Russia after announcing on Tuesday that three billionaire allies of the Russian President and five Russian banks would face punitive measures.
The prime minister is likely to come under fire in the Commons today and will criticism from all sides for not going far enough, PA Media reports.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “we must be prepared to go further”, while the sanctions were branded as “gruel” by the Liberal Democrats’ Layla Moran.
Former Tory foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that “Putin will have predicted and discounted western sanctions long ago, so does he (Johnson) agree that if we are not to be behind in the diplomatic chess game, we need to do some things that he is not expecting?”.
Tobias Ellwood, Conservative chairman of the defence committee, said: “Sanctions alone will not be enough, indeed untargeted sanctions may play into Putin’s plan to pivot Russia ever closer to China.”
Former Tory minister Mark Harper asked for assurances that Boris Johnson will implement “further and stronger measures even if President Putin does no more”.
Johnson and Downing Street insisted this was only the “first barrage” of measures, where “very high net wealth individuals” Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg – who he described as “cronies” of the Russian president – were targeted. The sanctions, which include UK asset freezes, a travel ban and prohibition on British individuals and businesses dealing with them, were also tabled against Russian banks Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank.
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00:27
Blinken says Ukraine invasion was Putin’s plan ‘all along’
US secretary of state Antony Blinken earlier said an invasion of Ukraine had been Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “plan all along”, calling the situation a “manufactured crisis”.
In a joint press conference with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington held on Tuesday evening local time, Blinken said:
During the press conference, Blinken also added that he will no longer be meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Paris on Friday as planned : “Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy it does not make sense to go forward that meeting at this time.”
The meeting followed Joe Biden’s announcement on Tuesday about the first round of sanctions against Russian banks, oligarchs and others, with plans to escalate sanctions if Russia advances its invasion.
Video of the press conference is also available here.
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00:26
Truss warns ‘nothing is off the table’ in Russia sanctions
The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss has revealed potential further UK sanctions on Russia, warning those close to Putin will see his incursion into Ukraine as a “self-inflicted wound” and adding “nothing is off the table”.
British prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that three billionaire allies of the Russian president and five Russian banks would face punitive measures in response to their country’s aggression.
Truss said the UK was also considering sanctions for members of the Russian Duma and Federation Council, and extending Crimea’s territorial sanctions to the separatist controlled territories in the Donbas. Writing in The Times, she said:
Putin is … undermining Europe’s security and stability. We will use every lever at our disposal to stop him in his tracks.
We have put in place our toughest sanctions regime against Russia. Nothing is off the table. This first wave will target the individuals and companies closest to the Kremlin.
Truss added that “no UK individual or business will be able to deal with these territories until they are returned to Ukraine.”
Truss also said the UK has a “long list” of people who have been complicit in the actions of the Russian leadership, who the government is willing to “(turn) up the heat” on unless Russia pulls back its forces.
Beyond financial sanctions, Truss added the UK was willing to introduce “measures to limit Russia’s ability to trade and prohibit a range of high-tech exports, degrading the development of its military industrial base for years”.
“In time, even those close to President Putin will come to see his decisions this week as a self-inflicted wound.”
00:14
Welcome to our live blog on the Ukraine crisis. I’m Samantha Lock.
There have been a number of important developments over the last few hours so if you’re just joining us or need a quick recap, here are some of the main points:
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken said an invasion of Ukraine had been Vladimir Putin’s “plan all along”, calling the situation a “manufactured crisis”. He also cancelled a meeting planned for Friday with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
- US president Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia and the Russian president’s decision to send troops into eastern Ukraine was the “beginning of the invasion of Ukraine”.
- The sanctions will target Russian banks and sovereign debt, as well as prominent members of what Biden called the Russian “elite”.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the sanctions but said they weren’t enough to discourage Putin. Speaking in Washington with Blinken, he said the US must help his country because the future of the world order “is being decided right now in Ukraine”.
- Russia’s ambassador to the US hit back at the sanctions, suggesting the move would hurt global financial and energy markets as well as ordinary citizens.
- The UK and European Union also announced similar sanctions to the US but were criticised as not being strong enough, and could also come at a cost for the west. Australia and Japan followed suit.
- Ukraine’s president has called up the country’s reservists and warned that Ukraine could face a battle for its very existence.
- Satellite images show a new deployment of more than 100 military vehicles and dozens of troop tents in southern Belarus and in Russia near the Ukraine border, a private US company said.
- Canada delivered a second aircraft to Ukraine filled with “lethal military aid”, calling Russia’s invasion of a sovereign state “absolutely unacceptable”.
- Oil prices only rose slightly on Wednesday’s as the market judged that sanctions against Russia will not disrupt supplies from the world’s third largest producer.
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