LONDON: The United Kingdom will impose its most serious sanctions against Russia on Monday with the aim of paralyzing Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, when the conflict enters the third year, foreign secretary David Lammy has confirmed.
“This is also the time to turn on the screws (Vladimir) Putin’s Russia,” Lammy said in a statement.
“Tomorrow, I plan to announce the biggest package of sanctions against Russia since the early days of the war – eroding their military machine and reducing revenue that fuel for destruction fires in Ukraine,” he added.
UK’s decision to increase sanctions is coming as US President Donald Trump has tried in recent weeks to sideline Kyiv and its European backers from conversations with Russia about the future of the conflict.
“This is a critical moment in Ukraine, Britain and all of Europe … Now it’s time for Europe to double our support for Ukraine,” Lammy said.
London has already imposed sanctions of 1,900 people and organizations with links to Putin’s government since the start of the war from January 2025.
Its sanctions are targeted at Russian economic, aviation, military and energy sectors, including through bank-acting freezes, travel bans and trade restrictions.
Last week, the EU countries agreed to a new round of sanctions, which includes a ban on imports of Russian aluminum, formally adopted on Monday.
‘Bridge’
In his statement, Lammy UK’s military support, which includes a promise to give £ 3 billion pounds ($ 3.78 billion) annually to Kiev and “be clear and willing to give British troops as part of peacekeeping forces if necessary” .
“From the battlefield we will cooperate with the US and European partners to achieve a sustainable, just peace, and by doing so it remains clear that there can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Lammy added.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Stormer held separate phone calls with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and repeated a similar message to Lammy’s.
Stormmer is on its way to Washington to meet Trump on Thursday in the hope of acting as a “bridge” between the US and Europe to secure territorial and security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of an agreement to end the war.
The task looks increasingly challenging after a public spit in the last week between Zelensky and Trump, who called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” and paid tribute to “good conversations” with Russia.
Trump also accused Stormmer and French President Emmanuel Macron of doing nothing to end the war in a Fox News interview Friday.
The European countries fear that if Ukraine is forced into a bad deal by Washington, it will leave Putin and claim the victory and the continent by a mercy of an office Moscow.
