Boris Johnson’s chief of staff, Steve Barclay, has said the UK will respond to Russia’s attack on Ukraine with “overwhelming” sanctions, as the prime minister prepares to address the nation about the crisis.
Speaking to MPs at Westminster, Barclay said he was appalled by what he called “an unprovoked attack” and the UK and its allies would respond decisively.
He added that the prime minister would address parliament later, “to outline the UK response, including overwhelming sanctions”.
After speaking to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, early in the morning, the prime minister said: “This is a catastrophe for our continent.” He said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had “chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction”.
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said she had summoned the Russian ambassador “to meet me and explain Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”. She is expected to speak to her counterparts in various countries throughout the day.
Following a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee at 7:30 am on Thursday, Johnson is expected to give an address to the nation, followed by a call with G7 leaders in the afternoon and a statement in the House of Commons at 5 pm.
Ukraine’s president declared martial law, while Russia’s military said it had targeted Ukrainian airbases and other military assets and not populated areas.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the Cobra committee meeting, chaired by Johnson, discussed the response to the “horrific attacks”.
Britain, in common with other Nato allies, has said it will not fight Russia, because Ukraine is not a Nato member. But the UK has supplied arms to Kyiv and has already announced limited economic sanctions.
The UK previously said it expected Russia to launch an invasion along “multiple axes” – aimed at Ukraine military forces in the east of the country and above all, the capital, Kyiv, in what could be a bloody attempt to force a change of regime.
Western officials have said they expect Russia to seek to encircle Ukraine’s major cities and rely on the FSB intelligence service to deliver them with limited fighting. The US has warned key Ukrainian figures could be targeted in this phase.
In a statement posted on Twitter at 4:53 am, Johnson said he had spoken with Zelenskiy to discuss “next steps”.
He said: “I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskiy to discuss the next steps. President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said Johnson had assured Zelenskiy the west “would not stand by as President Putin waged his campaign against the Ukrainian people”.
“The prime minister said he hoped Ukraine could resist and that Ukraine and its people were in the thoughts of everyone in the United Kingdom during this dark time,” the spokesperson said.
The Foreign Office minister James Cleverly promised there would be an “unprecedented” fresh set of sanctions imposed on Russia for the “appalling decision” to invade Ukraine. He accused Putin of “recreating some kind of tsarist, expansionist Russia” and being driven by ego as well as a “foolish attempt to write himself into the history books”.
