Russia’s foreign minister has warned of retaliation if Britain imposes sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
Sergei Lavrov made the threat after a tense meeting last week with his UK counterpart Liz Truss in a bid to avoid war in the region.
Boris Johnson has said a ‘very, very tough’ package of sanctions is ‘ready to go’ should Russia take military action against Ukraine.
An estimated 150,000 Russian troops have been placed on the border, leading to fears of an invasion.
Russia has continually denied plans to attack, but has demanded legally binding guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO, which Moscow feels has expanded too far eastwards.
The West has so far refused to make such pledges, with Johnson saying Ukraine has every right to form its own defensive alliances.
Heralding his package of sanctions in the event of a ‘reckless’ invasion, Johnson said: ‘What we’re doing is targeting particular Russian banks, Russian companies, and making sure that we take steps, take even more steps, to unseal the facade of Russian property holdings… whether in London or elsewhere.
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‘Unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies. And also take steps to take Russian companies from raising capital on London financial markets.’
Ministers gained new powers last week to impose these sanctions, but Lavrov said if such measures went ahead, Russia would hit back.
He said: ‘It will be necessary to adopt corresponding legislation against those who are trying to build a career – to increase ratings and gain popularity using Russophobic sentiment.’
Russia’s claims yesterday that it was withdrawing some troops following the conclusion of military exercises has drawn some scepticism.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News: ‘What we haven’t seen is evidence of withdrawal that has been claimed by the Kremlin.
‘Until we see a proper de-escalation we should all be cautious about the direction of travel from the Kremlin.’
Russia’s defence ministry released a video showing a trainload of armoured vehicles crossing a bridge away from Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
It said this was part of a return of forces to their permanent bases. But NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also urged caution.
He said: ‘We have heard the signs from Moscow about readiness to continue diplomatic efforts.
‘But so far we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. On the contrary it appears that Russia continues their military build-up.’
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