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Summary
Here is a quick recap of some of the main developments from today:
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Boris Johnson is under pressure, including from his own MPs and opposition parties, to move faster in targeting assets of Russian oligarchs after it was conceded it could take “weeks and months” to build legally sound cases. The EU is pressing the UK to go further and faster in imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs over fears that assets are being swept out of the UK. Contrary to the prime minister’s claims to be leading the world in the economic response to the invasion of Ukraine, there is frustration among allies over the UK’s lethargy in hitting Russian wealth. Story here.
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Liz Truss said the UK must and will go further on sanctions against Russia. She said: “I’m very clear that legal threats will have no impact on our ability to sanction oligarchs and we will continue to work through our list, we will continue to sanction oligarchs and there is nowhere for any of Putin’s cronies to hide.”
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Ofcom is now reviewing whether to revoke Russia Today’s broadcast licence entirely, Nadine Dorries said. The culture secretary told the Commons that Vladimir Putin “must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes”.
- The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said the NHS must stop using energy supplied by the Russian-owned firm Gazprom. More than a dozen NHS trusts are thought to be supplied by Gazprom, alongside several local councils. A source told PA: “Sajid has spoken with NHSE and been clear that trusts need to stop using Gazprom as a supplier. He has also requested a wider review of any Russian role in supply chains across the health service.”
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The Liberal Democrats have written to ministers to formally demand the UK government seizes homes owned by oligarchs with close links to Vladimir Putin, and that in the short term they are used to house Ukrainian refugees. Alistair Carmichael, the party’s home affairs spokesman, told Priti Patel, the home secretary, it was “time to freeze these assets and put them to good use”, saying this would also help keep Ukrainian refugees out of hotels or other unsuitable accommodation.
- Culture is “the third front in the Ukrainian war”, Nadine Dorries said, as the cabinet minister said sporting sanctions could hit as hard as economic measures on Russia. Writing in the Telegraph (paywall), Dorries said she was using the “full might of the UK’s soft power” to make Putin an “international pariah”. She told MPs the Russian president is “suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia” that will be causing him “real pain”.
- Damian Hinds, the security minister, described the Russian military as a “ruthless invading force” which poses not only an immediate danger to Ukraine, but also a threat to “wider Europe and the world”.
Updated
An estimated 100 people from Scotland have signed up to support the fight against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to officials.
The figure came from the Consulate of Ukraine based in Edinburgh.
It comes after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged foreigners to “join the defence of security in Europe” as Russia ramps up its attacks on major cities in the country.
Zelenskiy has temporarily lifted the requirement for entry visas for any foreigner willing to join Ukraine’s International Defence Legion and fight Putin’s military invasion.
The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Wednesday that any Scot wishing to fight should “think carefully about what we can do to support Ukraine that is actually helpful and meaningful”.
She said she would not encourage people with no military experience or training to go to Ukraine, adding: “I am not sure that would be the best way to help Ukraine at this particular moment.”
One Scottish former soldier, Joe Stirling, told the BBC’s World at One programme this week that he planned to travel to Ukraine on Friday.
Stirling, who has previously served in Iraq, said:
People need help. Countries and nationalities aside, it’s humans going to help other humans. If I was a bricklayer I’d go and build hospitals. If I was a doctor I’d go out and give people first aid. It just happens my trade is soldier, so I’m going out to fight.
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has previously said she would “absolutely” support British nationals who choose to go to Ukraine to help fight the invasion.
But in response to her comments, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, urged Britons not to travel to Ukraine to join the fighting as he said the “very dangerous” situation could lead to them being killed.
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Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale has joined calls to seize Russian oligarchs’ assets, saying “other countries are doing it better than we are”.
Adding that the UK should move “hard and fast” with sanctions, Gale told the PA news agency:
It does seem to me that you don’t say we are going to punish you and give people however many days it is to move their assets.
If you are going to do a drugs raid, you do a drugs raid. You go in the middle of the night and smash the door in, you don’t say we’re going to raid your house in 12 hours.
He added that he was “delighted” by reports that the government was considering seizing oligarchs’ assets without compensation and would support legislation to do so.
He said:
I think we have got to go down that road. I have some sympathy with the opposition position that we should be moving much faster.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has said “there is nowhere for any of Putin’s cronies to hide” as she seeks to hit more Russian oligarchs with sanctions.
In an interview in Lithuania, she said:
We have to make sure we have the right evidence to put in place those sanctions.
I’m very clear that legal threats will have no impact on our ability to sanction oligarchs and we will continue to work through our list, we will continue to sanction oligarchs and there is nowhere for any of Putin’s cronies to hide.
Marks & Spencer has announced it has suspended shipments to its Russian business run by the retailer’s Turkish franchise holder.
“Given the unfolding humanitarian crisis following the invasion of Ukraine, M&S has suspended shipments to our Turkish franchisee’s Russian business,” the company said in a statement.
“We are doing everything we can to support the people of Ukraine, and in response to the growing refugee crisis we are building on our existing support for Unicef UK’s Ukraine appeal with a 1.5 million package to support the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and Unicef to help children and families in need.
“This is made up of a kickstart 500,000 donation to UNHCR with a further 500,000 for matched fundraising for all our global colleagues and double donations on Sparks transactions to support Unicef, and activation of till-point and online giving in the UK.
“We are also providing practical help through UNHCR, donating 20,000 units of coats and thermals for families in need, totalling a further 500,000.”
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has called for new legislation to be brought to the House of Commons early next week so the UK’s sanctions regime on individuals “can catch up with our allies and partners”.
“It is totally unacceptable that a week after Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine just 11 oligarchs have faced sanctions by the UK government,” he said.
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EU urges UK to act faster before Russian assets are spirited away
Boris Johnson is also under growing pressure from the EU to go further and faster in imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs over fears that assets are being swept out of the UK.
Contrary to the prime minister’s claims to be leading the world in the economic response to the invasion of Ukraine, there is frustration among allies over the UK’s lethargy in hitting Russian wealth.
The government is being urged in behind-the-scenes discussions with the EU to target more named individuals believed to be sheltering their wealth in London property and financial structures.
That private frustration was made public in comments from Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s first vice-president on Thursday. “I don’t hesitate to say this,” Timmermans told the BBC. “The UK is now following our lead. And I’m sure they will continue to follow the lead because the pressure of the public opinion in the UK is very clear about this.
“And I think now even parties who accepted funding from oligarchs should understand that they, you know, they need to change course, because that’s what – if I don’t misunderstand the public mood in the UK – that’s what the British public want.”
The Foreign Office has for days been promising to publish a schedule of oligarchs it will hit, but as yet just eight such individuals with links to Vladimir Putin have been listed.
A government official told the Times on Thursday that it would take “weeks and months” to enforce sanctions on the same level as the EU due to a lack of legal and investigative capacity.
My colleague Dan Boffey has the story: EU urges UK to act faster before Russian assets are spirited away
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Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood has added to calls for the UK to confiscate Russian oligarchs’ assets before eventually returning their wealth to the Russian people.
The chair of the Commons defence committee told the PA news agency:
We should leave no stone unturned in isolating these oligarchs from their investments, including the seizure of properties and yachts.
There’s a race to squeeze Putin given the war crimes he’s now committing in Ukraine, and London continues to be seen as ground zero as to where oligarchs’ investments sit. So we need to be impounding these assets in days, not weeks or months.
There’s going to be increasing public anger that we’re not doing enough to help our fellow Ukrainians in their hour of need.
I would agree with Tom [Tugendhat]; I simply would add what we do must be legally watertight, what we can’t see is any loopholes.
Every day we wait offers more time for the oligarchs to move their wealth to other parts of the world. Don’t forget it’s not their wealth, this is the stolen wealth from the Russian people which is utilised to keep Putin in power.
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A foreign minister has said the government was “looking at the full picture”, as he did not rule out stripping allies of Vladimir Putin living in the UK of their British citizenship.
But Tory frontbencher Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon pointed to the opposition of many Russians to the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine.
While highlighting the “significant action” taken by the government on sanctions, Labour former minister Lord Foulkes of Cumnock said:
But there is one further sanction which has not yet been considered … and that is using the powers we have to remove British citizenship from Putin oligarchs living in the United Kingdom.
Lord Ahmad said:
We are looking at the full picture. But equally I would stress the point there are many Russians in the United Kingdom who are dual nationals, there are many Russians who don’t have citizenship but who are residing in the UK, there are many Russians in Russia … who are totally and utterly against Mr Putin and his government and it’s important we stand by them as well.
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PM under pressure to move faster in targeting assets of Russian oligarch
Boris Johnson is under pressure to go faster in targeting Russian oligarchs, after it was conceded it could take “weeks and months” to build legally-sound cases, PA reports.
Downing Street said on Thursday it would consider possible changes to speed up the process as ministers sought to apply pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Senior Tory MP Tom Tugendhat called for the immediate seizure of assets such as luxury yachts and property and return of them to the Russian people “as soon as possible”.
But there have been questions over why billionaires such as Roman Abramovich, who has announced he will sell Chelsea FC, have not been hit with sanctions.
A government source acknowledged to the PA news agency it could take “weeks and months” to build a legally watertight case against some Russian oligarchs.
“We’re working round the clock and going as quick as we can,” the source added.
Downing Street sought to downplay the issue, with the prime minister’s official spokesman insisting:
We are not being held back from introducing sanctions.
But he said “we do have laws that we need to abide by” when applying the economic restrictions. He added:
When it comes to individuals it is the case that we need to do the preparatory work, the requisite work, to make sure it is legally sound before introduction.
Like I said, we will keep that under review and if there are ways to further speed it up then we will.
He also sought to argue that sanctions on the banks funding the Russian president’s military machine will exert more pressure than going after his wealthy allies. He said:
Our judgment is placing sanctions particularly on large banks and companies … that is what we believe will exert the most pressure on Putin’s regime and will throttle off funding for this illegal war against Ukraine.
But Tugendhat, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, called for the government to go further to follow European allies to seize oligarchs’ assets. He told PA:
We should be looking immediately to seize those assets linked to those who are profiting from Putin’s war machine, holding it in trust and returning it to the Russian people as soon as possible.
Updated
While FMQs in the Scottish parliament this lunchtime has been dominated by domestic issues, there was inevitable discussion of the Ukraine crisis.
On the subject of refugees, Nicola Sturgeon told the Holyrood chamber that there was a “moral, humanitarian obligation” to help those fleeing the war, adding that she wanted to “appeal directly to the prime minister to follow the example of the European Union and allow anyone fleeing the horror of Ukraine entry to the UK if they wish and deal with the paperwork later”.
Sturgeon also pledged action on oligarchs in Scotland, after Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer challenged her about close Putin associate Vladimir Lisin, who has received hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of agricultural subsidies for his 3000 acre estate in Scotland.
Sturgeon said there would be an immediate review of such schemes, adding:
I have sought urgent advice on the maximum possible action the Scottish government can take against individuals or entities identifying as having close links with the Russian regime … including ending support from the public purse and freezing assets.
She said that her government was also writing to Scottish businesses encouraging them to review and sever links with Russia.
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No 10 lobby briefing - key points
Here are some key points from this afternoon’s Downing Street lobby briefing:
No 10 denied the Foreign Office has been held back from issuing sanctions against Russian oligarchs because officials are struggling to prove reasonable grounds. The PM’s official spokesperson said:
I wouldn’t recognise that. We are not being held back from introducing sanctions. We’ve gone further and faster than we ever have done before but we do have laws that we need to abide when it comes to how we apply these sanctions and we are following them. As you would expect we keep under constant review whether or not we can do more to allow us to go even faster.
Downing Street said sanctioning large banks and companies is what will “throttle off funding” for the Russian invasion and is more effective than targeting oligarchs. The spokesperson said:
When it comes to individuals it is the case that we need to do the preparatory work, the requisite work, to make sure it is legally sound before introduction. Like I said, we will keep that under review and if there are ways to further speed it up then we will.
I wouldn’t want people to get lost on the fact of just focusing on individuals. Obviously what is important is what puts the most pressure on Putin’s regime.
Our judgment is placing sanctions particularly on large banks and companies … that is what we believe will exert the most pressure on Putin’s regime and will throttle off funding for this illegal war against Ukraine.
Downing Street denied it could take months to prove the grounds to sanction some Russian oligarchs under measures to apply pressure on the Putin regime. The spokesperson said:
I don’t recognise that, certainly; I think we’ve said we’re bringing sanctions against more individuals including 571 members of the Duma and Federation Council. We’ve been working on some of these sanctions in weeks and you will see more and more individuals added to that list as it grows.
Asked if it could be weeks, he responded:
You will see over the coming days and weeks more and more sanctions come in.
Downing Street said it was key that actions taken against Russia were those which put pressure on Vladimir Putin and his regime. The PM’s official spokesperson was asked about steps such as the cancellation of the Trans-Siberian exhibition at the Science Museum, and whether those actions were going too far and hitting normal Russians. He said:
We do want to be very clear with the Russian people, many of whom are incredibly bravely demonstrating on the streets of Russia, I think more than a million people signed a petition in Russia against the war, which is very brave given the authoritarian regime there. Our issue is not with the Russian people.
We understand that … I’m sure that companies and businesses are trying to act in good faith here.
But he added:
I think what’s important is to make sure that the actions that we take are done to exert pressure on Putin and his regime, rather than inflict any necessary pain on the Russian people.
Asked if Imperial Fabergé eggs on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from the Kremlin should be kept in the UK until the conflict was resolved, the spokesman said he was “not aware of our position on Fabergé eggs”.
No 10 said the government had not been formally notified of the sale of Chelsea Football Club. The spokesperson was asked whether there were steps being taken to ensure Chelsea and Everton could continue to operate if their Russian owners were sanctioned. He said:
It is early days on some of these things. As I say, we formally haven’t had any notice on triggering the sale of Chelsea, which has been reported.
But he added:
We do have options available to us in extremis.
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Nadine Dorries has also told MPs she has called on Unesco to bar Russia from hosting its annual world heritage conference in June.
The culture secretary said that if it goes ahead, the UK “will not be attending”.
It’s why I called on Unesco to bar Russia from hosting its annual world heritage conference in June.
It’s absolutely inconceivable that this event could go ahead in Putin’s country as he fires missiles at innocent civilians in neighbouring Ukraine.
If it does go ahead, the UK will not be attending.
And it’s why I urged the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) yesterday to urgently rethink its decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. This pressure works.
The IPC’s decision was the wrong call. And I welcome the fact that overnight they have listened and have reversed that decision this morning.
Ofcom reviewing whether to revoke Russia Today's broadcast licence entirely, Nadine Dorries says
Nadine Dorries also said that Ofcom is now reviewing whether to revoke Russia Today’s broadcast licence entirely.
The culture secretary told the Commons that Vladimir Putin “must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes”.
She added:
And that is why I wrote to Ofcom last week urging them to examine any potential breaches of the broadcasting code.
Ofcom has since opened 27 investigations into RT, and they are now reviewing whether to revoke RT’s licence entirely.
In the meantime, those investigations have been taken over by events and I was very glad to see yesterday that the channel is now officially off air on British televisions, after it shut down on Sky, Freeview and Freesat.
Reiterating what she wrote for the Telegraph (paywall) on Wednesday, Nadine Dorries has told MPs Vladimir Putin is “suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia” that will be causing him “real pain”.
She said that culture was “the third front” in the war in Ukraine, as she outlined the sporting and cultural bans that Russia had faced.
The culture secretary told the Commons:
Putin is now suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia of its own making, and it will be causing the Russian leader real pain.
Dorries said she had recently made the UK’s position on Russia’s participation in international sports events clear to sports bodies, telling them:
Russia should be stripped of hosting international sporting events and Russian teams should not be allowed to compete abroad.
Across sports, across the arts and entertainment we are ostracising Putin off the global stage.
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Truss was also asked at the press conference what can be done to achieve a “humanitarian corridor” to help people fleeing Ukraine, and ensure medical supplies reach the most vulnerable.
She told reporters in Lithuania:
Well, you are absolutely right about the dire situation, and the United Kingdom has sent teams to the border to assist, particularly in Poland, but also in other countries facing those issues.
I was in Geneva … the day before yesterday, meeting the UN and others to talk about making sure a humanitarian corridor is established for the safe passage of aid and humanitarian support.
Updated
Liz Truss has said the west needs to “get the information” to the Russian people about what is “actually happening” in Ukraine in the face of reports from state-owned media at home.
The UK foreign secretary told the press conference in Lithuania she did not believe that president Vladimir Putin “speaks on behalf of Russian people”.
She said:
What we have seen over the last week is some very brave people in Russia protesting, standing up against the regime.
And we need to make sure that we get the information to them about what is actually happening.
It is much harder to control information in the world of social media.
And we need to make sure, as I’ve said, that the Russian economy is crippled so it is unable to continue to fund Putin and the war machine.
And I suspect that the Russian people will draw their own conclusions from that.
Updated
Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, is speaking now. He says we must continue supporting Ukraine in any way we can, diplomatically, politically, economically and militarily.
We must stop Russia from further aggression, through sanctions and diplomatic pressure, he says.
We need to close loopholes and continue to apply further economic sanctions against Russia, but the same sanctions must be applied to Belarus which is complicit and could be used by Russia to avoid some of the harshest effects of sanctions, he says.
We must respond in terms of regional security in eastern flank nations, he says.
We all understand we will see such challenging situations as long as there is the current leadership in Russia so we must be prepared for a very long engagement, he says.
Estonia’s foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets is speaking now. We must continue to support Ukraine politically, financially and to defend their sovereignty and the lives of their people, she says.
Ukraine is on the frontline protecting European values, she says, adding we must support its candidacy to join the EU.
To help stop the war, we must continue to raise the cost of war for Russia, she says.
We must use all political means to hold the aggressor accountable for war crimes, she says.
'We must keep our foot on the gas' with sanctions against Russia, Truss says
The UK was the first European country to give defensive military support to Ukraine and is the top European donor, pledging £200m in humanitarian aid support to Ukraine, Truss says.
We’ve also been at the forefront in sanctions against Russia and it’s vital that we keep our foot on the gas, she says.
We need to go further, making sure no Russian bank has access to Swift and reducing dependency on hydrocarbons from Russia including oil, gas and coal, she says.
Truss says she will raise these issues at the G7 on Friday and at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
She says this is a struggle not just for Ukraine’s freedom and self-determination, but for all of our freedom and security.
By continuing to respond with strengths we will together ensure that Putin loses, she says.
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'We must ensure Putin fails,' Truss says
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is speaking now. We must ensure Putin fails, she says.
She says she admires the courage of the Baltic states who have long lived in the shadow of Russian aggression.
We have two clear objectives, she says. First, Putin must lose in Ukraine and we’re helping Ukraine with defensive weapons to stop Russian tanks but we need to do more, she says.
Second, we’re reinforcing Nato’s eastern flank and supporting European security through the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, she says.
Updated
Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is talking now. He says they have discussed ways to support Ukraine, including financial support for Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia, and these cannot be “half steps”.
He says it also must not be forgotten that Belarus is a counterpart in Russia’s aggression.
As I mentioned earlier, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, is giving a joint press conference at the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alongside Estonian foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs and Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
It’s about to begin, there will soon be a live stream at the top of the blog. You can also watch it here.
Updated
NHS told to stop using energy supplied by Russian-owned Gazprom
The UK health secretary Sajid Javid has said the NHS must stop using energy supplied by the Russian-owned firm Gazprom, the PA news agency reports.
A senior government source told PA that Javid has been in talks with NHS England over ending the contracts, which are reported by Politico to have been worth 16 million in 2021.
More than a dozen NHS trusts are thought to be supplied by Gazprom, alongside several local councils.
The source told PA:
Sajid has spoken with NHSE and been clear that trusts need to stop using Gazprom as a supplier. He has also requested a wider review of any Russian role in supply chains across the health service.
It comes after Lord Simon Stevens, former head of NHS England, told the House of Lords that “decarbonising the health sector will take pound notes out of the hands of dictatorial regimes that are engaged in acts of aggression”.
The Tory former health secretary Jeremy Hunt also tweeted:
It’s clearly unsustainable for a humanitarian organisation like the NHS to have any commercial links whatsoever with Putin’s murderous regime.
Lib Dems call for Putin-linked oligarchs' UK homes to be seized and used for Ukrainian refugees
The Liberal Democrats have written to ministers to formally demand the UK government seizes homes owned by oligarchs with close links to Vladimir Putin, and that in the short term they are used to house Ukrainian refugees.
Alistair Carmichael, the party’s home affairs spokesman, told Priti Patel, the home secretary, it was “time to freeze these assets and put them to good use”, saying this would also help keep Ukrainian refugees out of hotels or other unsuitable accommodation.
In the letter, Carmichael called for quicker action to sanction Putin-linked oligarchs:
It is time to sanction them all - and freeze their assets, including any property they own in the UK.
These properties should then be used to house any Ukrainian refugees, on a temporary basis, while they await permanent resettlement. Rather than languishing in hotel rooms - or worse, unsuitable barracks, we should be putting Putin’s cronies’ assets to good use.
Unlike the government and Labour, the Liberal Democrats have called for a comprehensive scheme to bring Ukrainian refugees to the UK, calling for a five-year funding plan for councils which take them.
There is 'every indication Putin is absolutely guilty of war crimes', Hinds says
Damian Hinds has said there is “every indication Vladimir Putin is absolutely guilty” of war crimes.
Welcoming the International Criminal Court (ICC) opening an investigation after Russia was referred by Britain and 37 allies, the UK security minister told LBC:
As the prime minister said the other day, there is every indication Vladimir Putin is absolutely guilty.
But it is also really important that not only he, but the generals, the officers in his army, know that evidence is being gathered and that people can be held to account through the international justice system.
Damian Hinds said it would “be neither right nor wise” to comment on Roman Abramovich, after the Chelsea owner announced his intention to sell the Premier League football club.
The security minister, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether sanctions against the Russian billionaire were being considered, said:
It would be neither right nor wise of me to comment on individuals.
I don’t think we should let individuals know what is going to happen before it happens.
But in any case, I wouldn’t talk about an individual case unless and until there were measures in place.
But people should know we’ve already put in place sanctions on individuals and there will be more to come.
Asked whether he knew what Abramovich meant when he said “net proceeds” from the sale of the club would go to the victims of the war in Ukraine, Hinds said:
No, because you can define net proceeds in different ways, as any corporate financier would tell you.
The wealth of Russian oligarchs with British investments will not prevent the UK government from “going after” them, Damian Hinds said this morning.
Put to him that Boris Johnson’s administration is “scared” of targeting wealthy Russian elites due to the “legal implications”, Hinds told BBC Breakfast:
No. You shouldn’t overlook or just ignore what I just said about people who have already been sanctioned - that is very material in these circumstances. And there will be more individuals [who] can be sanctioned. And we do understand some of these are deep-pocketed people - that doesn’t mean they are immune or exempt in any way. We will be going after people as needed.
Hinds also appeared to suggest the UK could look to seize assets of Russian oligarchs as part of its next sanctioning steps.
Told on LBC that German authorities had seized Alisher Usmanov’s yacht and asked whether similar action on elite Russians should be taken in Britain, Hinds said:
Yeah. And look, we are going to go further. We’ve acted very quickly on the initial round of sanctions - that includes individuals as well as organisations, banks and so on - but we’ve always been clear it is a ratchet approach and there can be more to come.
Specifically on assets, we’ve got legislation going through parliament at the moment - we’re debating it on Monday - to include bolstering unexplained wealth orders, which are a potentially potent tool that can open investigations to lead to the proceeds of crime being seized.
We need to gum up that system, we need to stop it, to stop the money laundering, but also, as you rightly say, where it is possible - and obviously we operate within a legal framework - we are absolutely motivated to seize the proceeds of crime.
More from the morning interviews with the security minister Damian Hinds, who said there is no suggestion of delay in helping Ukrainian refugees, with a further UK scheme to open on Friday.
Hinds said he wanted to make sure those fleeing the Russian invasion had the “warmest, most supportive welcome possible” in Britain.
He said as well as a “couple of hundred thousand” entering via the extended family programme - which will be open to applications on Friday - others would be eligible via a “community sponsorship route”, along with already established schemes.
He told Sky News:
There is absolutely no suggestion of any kind of delay here - people need help now.
Asked how many visa applications had been submitted since last Wednesday, Hinds said:
So far a relatively small number - I can’t give you an exact number - but we expect that to grow rapidly.
So we are stepping up the capacity. We are very soon up to capacity for 6,000, and we will keep that under review and if it needs to increase, it will increase - and that’s just in the immediate region. There is also of course application centres across Europe.
The UK defence secretary said the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will “ripple through Europe” for “years to come” as he called on president Vladimir Putin to call off the conflict.
Ben Wallace, speaking at a press conference in Estonia, said:
The message to Putin is: Stop.
It isn’t too late to stop what you are doing. What you have done so far is illegal and you risk being isolated for decades to come.
He added:
This hasn’t finished here. The consequences of what we are seeing in Ukraine will ripple through Europe and Nato for not just weeks but months and years to come.
Answering a question from a reporter, he said it would “be very hard for the international community to engage” with Putin “in the long-term” following his invasion of a “sovereign country at huge scale, inflicting huge damage and violence”.
Wallace said the idea of having a “normal relationship with the Russian government” would be “almost impossible as a result of what we have seen in Ukraine unless president Putin chooses to cease what he is doing now”.
Culture is “the third front in the Ukrainian war”, Nadine Dorries has said, as the cabinet minister said sporting sanctions could hit as hard as economic measures on Russia.
Writing in the Telegraph (paywall) on Wednesday, Dorries said she was using the “full might of the UK’s soft power” to make Russian president Vladimir Putin an “international pariah”.
Dorries is set to host sports ministers from the US, Australia, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Latvia, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, Norway and Canada on Thursday, to mobilise more support to isolate Russia from the global sporting arena.
It comes as Russian and Belarusian athletes will be banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee reversed its original decision.
Read more on that here: Russian and Belarusian athletes banned from Winter Paralympics after U-turn
Dorries wrote:
Putin is now suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia of his own making.
These are not mere gestures. Culture and sport matter - to Putin, to his cronies and to the Russian people.
The culture secretary said that already the Champions League and Formula One Grand Prix had moved from Russia, and Fifa, Uefa, World Rugby, the International Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee had banned Russia and Russian teams from competitions. She also highlighted that the Eurovision song contest had banned Russia’s participation.
This list now also includes the International Paralympic Committee.
Dorries wrote:
This sporting exile will be causing the Russian leader real pain.
The virtual ministers’ summit on Thursday will have three aims: to agree that Russia and Belarus are stripped from hosting any international sporting events, ensure teams and individuals are banned from international competition, and to take “tough action on sport-related investment with links to the Russian state”.
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, will give a joint press conference at 10.15am GMT at the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alongside Estonian foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs and Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
It will be live-streamed in English on the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter account.
We invite you to tune in today to the Press Conference of the Foreign Ministers of #Lithuania 🇱🇹, #Latvia 🇱🇻, #Estonia 🇪🇪 and the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧 at 12:15 PM EET. https://t.co/b0UF1uxkMm
— Lithuania MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@LithuaniaMFA) March 3, 2022
Russia is a 'ruthless invading force' that poses a threat to 'wider Europe and the world', minister says
Good morning. Doing the broadcast rounds this morning, Damian Hinds, the security minister, described the Russian military as a “ruthless invading force” which poses not only an immediate danger to Ukraine, but also a threat to “wider Europe and the world”.
Security Minister Damian Hinds says Russia's invasion is not only "dangerous" for Ukraine, but also "for the wider region - for Europe and the world" pic.twitter.com/AtuzWU8Rz7
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 3, 2022
He told Sky News:
We are all desperately concerned. This is a ruthless invading force. When it comes to tactics and military strategy, I’m not going to second guess Vladimir Putin and what he might be thinking, what might be in his head.
But we do know that this is a ruthless force, an extremely dangerous [force] – obviously imminently right now for Ukraine, but actually dangerous for wider Europe and the world.
The bravery, the tenacity of Ukraine, my God, we have all been taken aback and it is so important we do everything we can to support them in what they are doing - and this is where the sanctions [come in]... we’ve got the economic crime bill, transparency and enforcement coming through on Monday in parliament.
It is why all these things are so important, why we absolutely need to make the regime hurt.
You can follow our global coverage of the war over on our dedicated Ukraine live blog, here:
I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments from the UK perspective for the next eight hours, please feel free to get in touch with me as I work. Your thoughts are always welcome!
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
