The Government has slapped a wave of fresh sanctions an export bans on Russia after Putin annexed four regions of Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary has also summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK to protest against the 'sham' referenda that has allowed Russia to absorb Luhansk, Dnetsk, Khereson and Zaporizhzhia.
Andrei Kelin will be told “in the strongest possible terms” of Britain’s objections to the move which is widely regarded as illegal by Western nations.
Under new sanctions Russia will lose access to major western services including: IT consultancy, architectural services, engineering services, and transactional legal advisory services for certain commercial activity
The UK has also banned the export of nearly 700 goods that are crucial to Russia’s industrial and technological capabilities
Putin has annexed 15% of Ukraine in order to claim his own territory is under attack by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky’s forces.
Liz Truss has accused Vladimir Putin of breaching international law, as the Russian President plans to formally annex four Ukrainian regions.
In a statement, the Prime Minister said: “Vladimir Putin has, once again, acted in violation of international law with clear disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people he claims to represent.
“The UK will never ignore the sovereign will of those people and we will never accept the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as anything other than Ukrainian territory.
“Putin cannot be allowed to alter international borders using brute force. We will ensure he loses this illegal war.”
The UK will never recognise a series of “illegal annexations” of Ukrainian territory by Russia, the Defence Secretary has said.
Ben Wallace tweeted: “The UK will never recognise Russia’s illegal annexations in Ukraine.
"Russia doesn’t even control some of these oblasts.
“The truth is Russia is losing in Ukraine and their incompetent Generals are sending thousands to their deaths to please President Putin’s imperialist fantasy.”
Former prime minister Boris Johnson tweeted on Friday: “ Vladimir Putin your speech is a fraud and a disgrace.”
“The world must never accept your sham referendums or your cruel and illegal attempt to colonise Ukraine.
“We stand with the people of Ukraine and will support them without flinching until their country is whole and free.”
The EU has said it will never recognise the illegal referendums organised “as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Putin said Ukrainian authorities should “treat… with respect” the lopsided results of the Moscow-managed votes and warned sternly that Russia would never surrender control of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Last week, western officials told the Mirror Putin's ‘sham’ annexation vote was a sign of weakness as Russia still does not fully control the four occupied regions of Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “The Kremlin wants the semblance of a decisive electoral mandate to try and justify the eventual Russian annexation of parts of Ukraine.
“Our information shows Russian officials are setting targets for invented voter turnouts and approval rates for these sham referenda. For example, in some regions, they have reportedly already set the required figures for voter turnout and support for accession into Russia at needing to be over 75%.
“Russia has also agreed in advance what will happen after these referenda."
