UK plans ‘imminent’ sanctions against Putin and Lavrov

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tells his NATO partners that he is planning “imminent” sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Downing Street says Johnson told his counterparts that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “catastrophe” and the Kremlin chief was “engaging in a revanchist mission to overturn post-Cold War order.”

Warning that Putin “may not stop there” and calling the situation a “Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences,” he urged leaders to cut Russia off from the SWIFT international bank transfer system “to inflict maximum pain.”

“The UK would introduce sanctions against President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov imminently, on top of the sanctions package the UK announced yesterday,” Downing Street says in a read-out of the meeting.