Boris Johnson could send Ukrainian rescuers armoured Land Rovers to help them reach civilians wounded by Russian invaders, he revealed tonight.
The Prime Minister told MPs the Government was "certainly looking at going up a gear in our support for the Ukrainians as they defend themselves".
He suggested that Britain could do more for “civil defence”, such as providing toughened vehicles for rescuers - particularly in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol.
“Ukrainian defenders are now pretty much encircled and there is a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr Johnson told Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat.
“The question is, ‘Can we help the Ukrainians relieve Mariupol if that were possible?’
“Would APCs (armoured personnel carriers) be useful for them? You mentioned armoured Land Rovers. We are certainly looking at that.”
The Conservative leader also took a swipe at French Premier Emmanuel Macron, who has stayed in regular contact with Vladimir Putin as war rages.
The Russian President was “plainly not to be trusted”, warned Mr Johnson.
Giving evidence to the Commons Liaison Committee, he added: “The most important thing - and here I think Emmanuel and I would be in total agreement - is that whatever happens should be what the Ukrainians want, and it's for them to decide what their future should be.
"That is what is at stake here. It's not for any of us, whatever we may think, to try to create a future for them. It's for them to decide their future."
Reports suggest Paris and Berlin could be open to easing sanctions against Moscow if Putin declares a ceasefire.
But the PM said that would not be enough.
“We should continue to intensify sanctions with a rolling programme until every single one of his troops is out of Ukraine," he said.
He signalled that included Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014.
Mr Johnson also said a “total rethink about all the support that we offer countries such as Georgia and Ukraine" was needed.
He called on the West to overhaul the "security architecture" by arming the countries so heavily that Russia was deterred from invading.
Quizzed about delays in bringing Ukrainian refugees to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the PM insisted he wanted a "light touch" visa process.
But he admitted he did not know how many of the 2,700 Ukrainians awarded visas through the programme had arrived.
He also distanced himself from gaffe-prone US President Joe Biden who was forced to deny he wanted to oust Putin from the Kremlin, despite declaring: “For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power!”
Mr Johnson said regime change was "not the objective of the UK Government".
He added: “It's very, very important everybody gets this, we are simply setting out to help to protect the people of Ukraine and to protect them against absolutely barbaric and unreasonable violence."
