Boris Johnson will tell fellow leaders ‘the world is watching’ as he sets out a six-point plan to take on Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister is taking his stand to the global stage as the Russian leader moved the goalposts over the West’s engagement in his Ukraine invasion.
Mr Johnson said that ‘it is not future historians but the people of Ukraine who will be our judge’ over how the world reacts to Putin’s ‘hideous, barbarous assault’.
Ahead of a swathe of meetings in coming days, Mr Johnson said: ‘Putin must fail and must be seen to fail in this act of aggression.
‘It is not enough to express our support for the rules-based international order – we must defend it against a sustained attempt to rewrite the rules by military force.’
Putin warned yesterday the Kremlin would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as participation in the conflict.
He said Russia would view ‘any move in this direction’ as an intervention that ‘will pose a threat to our service members’.
‘That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,’ he said.
However, Ukraine has repeatedly said the move is the only way to stop more deaths.
Nato allies have ruled out implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine amid fears it could prompt an all-out war with nuclear-armed Russia.
So far, 141 nations have denounced the Kremlin’s actions at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.
Some 38 countries, coordinated by the UK, have also led the largest-ever referral to the International Criminal Court.
In an essay in the New York Times, Mr Johnson unveiled his six-point plan to keep the pressure on.
The PM told leaders to mobilise an ‘international humanitarian coalition’ for Ukraine and support the country ‘in its efforts to provide for its own self-defence’.
The economic pressure on the Kremlin should be ratcheted up, the PM said, warning against the ‘creeping normalisation’ of what Russia is doing in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson also said that while diplomatic paths to resolving the war must be pursued, this could only be done with the full participation of the ‘legitimate Government of Ukraine’.
He added there needs to be a ‘rapid campaign to strengthen security and resilience across the Euro-Atlantic area’.
The PM will hammer home his message when he meets with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Rutte at Downing Street on Monday.
Then on Tuesday, Mr Johnson will host leaders of the V4 group of central European nations – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
These countries are already facing the humanitarian crisis caused by the invasion, as the number of people fleeing Ukraine reached 1.4 million in just 10 days.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the opposition ‘fully supports the UK playing its part in the united, international effort to provide military, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine alongside our allies and partners in Nato and beyond’.
He said: ‘The Putin regime’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a heinous attack not only on the Ukrainian people, but also on the values of sovereignty, democracy, freedom and the rule of law we all share.’
But he added: ‘At home, the UK government must move faster and harder to impose sanctions on the oligarchs and politicians linked to the rogue Russian regime.
‘It is inexcusable that we have fallen behind the EU and the US on the number of individuals and entities sanctioned. Ministers must move faster, acting against Putin’s cronies in days not months.’
Source: Metro
