Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, said that the UK and most Western allies would impose sanctions "the moment that the first Russian toecap crosses further into Ukrainian territory."
Johnson told a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 1 that the UK and its allies would always defend Ukraine's sovereignty and freedom from foreign aggression.
According to him, Moscow must understand that sanctions will be applied in an "automatic" manner with the minute a further incursion is detected into sovereign Ukrainian territory.
It is possibly one of the biggest acts of hostility "in our lifetimes" for Russia to build up its troops along the Ukrainian border.
Any conflict would be expensive for Russia, according to the prime minister. "The Ukrainian army will fight fiercely and bloodily and I think the Russian parents and mothers should take this into account," he said.
“The leaders warned that any further Russian incursion in Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake and have a stark humanitarian cost,” said the statement.
2 Feb 2022
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