New powers to sanction individuals linked to the Russian state in response to aggression towards Ukraine will include the ability to freeze their assets and deny them entry to Britain, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday.
Describing the new sanctions regime as “severe”, Ms Truss said “we will make sure that those who share responsibility for the Kremlin’s aggressive and destabilising action will share in bearing a heavy cost”.
She told MPs: “Their assets in the UK will be frozen. No UK business or individual would be able to transact with them. And should they seek to enter the UK, they would be turned back.”
Russia has massed an estimated 100,000+ troops near the borders of its southern neighbour, stoking fears in the West of an invasion. But at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Russia claimed that the West had been “whipping up tensions” and denied it was acting provocatively.
