Germany says EU will ‘severely’ sanction Putin and Russian FM Lavrov

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday said new sanctions against Russia would personally punish President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for their responsibility in the invasion of Ukraine.

“They are responsible for the death of innocent people in Ukraine. They are responsible that the international system is trampled and we as Europeans do not accept that,” Baerbock said as she arrived for talks in Brussels.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said the UK and nine other northern European defense allies agreed in a call that further sanctions were needed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The UK leader told the so-called Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) bloc — which includes Baltic and Scandinavian states — that the crisis “was a defining moment in European history.”

“The leaders agreed that more sanctions were needed, including focusing on [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin’s inner circle, building on the measures that had already been agreed,” his Downing Street office said following the call.

Johnson told representatives from the nine JEF members that “the western world must keep the flame of freedom burning in Ukraine as Russian forces inflict horror on an innocent country and its people,” it added.

He also said that “more support must be given to Ukraine, as a matter of the greatest urgency” and that Putin’s actions “could never be normalized, or his aggression against Ukraine ever accepted as a fait accompli.”

The JEF, set up in 2012, is made up of NATO members Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, and non-members Finland and Sweden.

It is focused on security in the “High North” region around the Arctic, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea area.

At a meeting of its defense ministers on Tuesday, they announced upcoming maneuvres in the Baltic Sea to demonstrate “freedom of movement” in the strategic zone.

The warnings about targeted sanctions on Kremlin leaders came as the EU agreed to freeze European assets linked to Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, officials and a European diplomat told AFP.

It also followed the bloc, Britain, and the United States unveiling a range of sanctions on Thursday, further targeting the banking sector and Russian oligarchs.

Earlier Friday, Johnson pledged “further UK support to Ukraine” in a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Russian forces closed in on the capital, Kyiv.

“President Zelensky updated the prime minister on the most recent Russian military advances… including the terrible developments in Kyiv,” Downing Street said in a statement.

Britain has said is ready to provide Ukraine with additional military support, including lethal defensive weapons but Defense Secretary Ben Wallace ruled out sending troops.

He told BBC television Britain would “hold the line in NATO,” adding: “I’m not putting British troops directly to fight Russian troops.

“That would trigger a European war because we are a NATO country, and Russia would therefore be attacking NATO.”

Johnson praised “the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people in standing up to Russia’s campaign of violence,” according to Downing Street.

“The Prime Minister committed to provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days as the people of Ukraine and the world continue to demonstrate that Putin cannot act with impunity,” it added.