The West could go after Vladimir Putin’s gold, Boris Johnson has suggested as he ratcheted up the rhetoric ahead of a crunch summit of Nato leaders.
The Prime Minister admitted “we need to do more”, saying the Russian president had “already crossed a threshold of barbarism in the way he’s behaving”.
“People talk about new red lines for chemical, biological, tactical nuclear weapons or whatever,” he told LBC radio, exactly one month on from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“For me, the red line already has been crossed. He’s bombing, indiscriminately, civilian centres. He’s causing huge numbers of casualties in wholly innocent populations.
“We need to do more. And so we need to do more economically, can we do more to stop him using his gold reserves for instance, in addition to his cash reserves?”
It comes ahead of a meeting of Nato leaders in Brussels on Thursday, with Mr Johnson attending alongside the US president Joe Biden. Leaders will discuss new sanctions, more military aid and ways to support nations threatened in eastern Europe.
Follow the latest updates below.
08:29 AM
War in Ukraine: latest pictures
08:28 AM
Russia-Ukraine war: Listen to our daily podcast
War in Ukraine, a humanitarian crisis, and reaction in Kyiv, Westminster and beyond. The Telegraph’s leading journalists take you beyond the headlines every weekday in our new podcast.
In this episode: Dominic Nicholls, Defence and Security Editor gives insight into the Ukrainian counter attack. Plus – one of the Telegraph’s photographers on the frontline, Simon Townsley, gives his response to those crying “fake news” to pictures of devastation in Ukraine. Have a listen below.
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08:26 AM
Russia has no interest in ceasefire in Ukraine for now, says EU official
Russia has no interest in negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine for now because it has not reached its military goals, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
“Right now, Russia doesn’t want to sit and negotiate anything: what it wants is to occupy the ground,” Mr Borrell said in an interview with Spanish TVE channel.
“It wants to surround the coast to the border with Moldova and isolate Ukraine from the sea. It wants to negotiate in earnest only when it has secured a position of strength.”
The European Union and its allies will keep on delivering military aid to the Ukrainian army, Mr Borrell said.
“It is important because everything will be decided in the next 15 days,” he said. “What will make history is the capacity of Ukrainians to resist.”
08:13 AM
Boris Johnson pledges 6,000 missiles for Ukraine
Britain will provide Ukraine with about 6,000 new defensive missiles and almost £30 million to support the BBC’s coverage in the region and pay Ukrainian soldiers and pilots.
Boris Johnson will announce the new package of support on Thursday at the Nato and G7 leaders’ meetings while also signalling a willingness to bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities further.
“The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defences as they turn the tide in this fight,” the Prime Minister said.
“One month into this crisis, the international community faces a choice. We can keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine, or risk it being snuffed out across Europe and the world.”
As part of the package, the UK will provide 6,000 missiles and £25 million in financial backing for the Ukrainian military. It will also provide £4.1 million for the BBC World Service.
08:09 AM
Strikes kill four near Lugansk: Ukrainian official
At least four people were killed, including two children, and six wounded from overnight strikes in eastern Ukraine, the governor of the Lugansk region said Thursday.
Sergiy Gayday said “unfortunately, the number of victims could be considerably higher,” accusing Russian forces of using phosphorus bombs.
Other officials in the region have made similar claims in recent days, which AFP has been unable to immediately verify.
08:05 AM
Churchill? Not me, more like Zelensky
Boris Johnson has compared Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, praising him for giving the Ukrainian people their “roar”.
The Prime Minister, who himself has been compared to Churchill, told LBC: “I think that President Zelensky has proved to be a quite remarkable leader of his people – he’s rallied them and he’s been their voice.
“He knows, as Churchill said of himself, he may not have been the lion but he’s been privileged to give the roar.
“It’s the Ukrainian people who have been the lion, and he’s expressed their will and their sense of defiance.”
08:03 AM
In pictures: Boris Johnson heads for Brussels ahead of Nato summit
07:57 AM
‘It’s London, it’s London!” Ukrainian refugees rejoice as evacuation plane lands
Dozens of Ukrainian orphans have clapped and cheered as their plane touched down in the UK.
The 54 orphanage children, including a one-year-old and a two-year-old, along with seven legal guardians, landed at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday night. They will be temporarily accommodated in Scotland.
The operation, which was a combined effort from charities Magen David Adom UK, Save A Child and Dnipro Kids, saw children rescued from five orphanages. The group left Warsaw in Poland on Wednesday afternoon.
Sally Becker, founder of Save A Child, who was on the plane, said “everybody was clapping” when it landed in London.
“I was saying ‘it’s London, it’s London!’ And they were just looking completely amazed because of course they’ve never flown before, and it really did look like jewels in the night,” she told PA news agency.
“And as it touched down they all started to clap. But not like people clap on an ordinary flight which sometimes happens, this was 61 of them all clapping and cheering, and they were so happy.”
07:43 AM
Putin made ‘big mistake’ invading Ukraine: NATO chief
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of making a “big mistake” by invading Ukraine, as leaders gathered to discuss overhauling the alliance’s eastern defences.
“President Putin has made a big mistake and that is to launch a war against an independent sovereign nation. He has underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian people, the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their armed forces,” Stoltenberg said ahead of the start of a summit in Brussels.
Mr Stoltenberg said the leaders of the US-led military alliance would “address the need for a reset of our deterrence and defence in the longer term”, starting with agreeing new deployments to eastern members Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
07:28 AM
UN to vote on blaming Russia for Ukraine humanitarian crisis
The United Nations General Assembly votes Thursday on a resolution backed by over 90 countries that blames Russia for the escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and demands an immediate halt to hostilities, especially attacks on civilians and their homes, schools and hospitals.
Russia has denounced the resolution as “anti-Russian” and accuses its supporters of not really being concerned about the humanitarian situation on the ground, saying they want to politicise aid.
The vote follows the UN Security Council overwhelming defeating a Russian resolution on Wednesday that would have acknowledged Ukraine’s growing humanitarian needs – but without mentioning Russia’s invasion that has left millions of Ukrainians in desperate need of food, water and shelter.
The vote on the Russian resolution reflected Moscow’s failure to get widespread backing for its military offensive in Ukraine, which has reached its one-month anniversary.
07:23 AM
Russian stock market, crushed by war, will partially reopen
Russia is reopening its stock market for limited trading nearly one month after shares plunged and the exchange was shut down following the invasion of Ukraine.
There will be heavy restrictions on trading on Thursday as the exchange opens to prevent the kind of massive selloff that took place on February 24 in anticipation of crushing financial and economic sanctions from Western nations.
The reopening of the Moscow exchange has only minimal significance for investors outside Russia and scant economic impact compared with barrage of US-led sanctions and withdrawals by foreign corporations.
The average exposure by a US investor through a mutual fund or retirement account to Russia is exceedingly small, according to Ben Johnson, director of global ETF research at Morningstar financial services firm.
“If someone is holding a traditional 60pc stock, 40pc bond portfolio matched to a global index, their exposure to Russia would be roughly 0.02pc of their portfolio,” Mr Johnson said. “Russia barely registers.”
Hundreds of global companies have pulled out of the country; there have been bank runs and panic buying of staples like sugar; and Russia’s currency, the ruble, has languished.
07:19 AM
Watch: Drone footage reveals the extent of destruction in Mariupol
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07:15 AM
‘Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”
Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelensky called on people worldwide to gather in public Thursday to show support for his embattled country as he prepared to address world leaders gathered in Brussels on the one-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
“Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard,” Mr Zelensky said in English during a video address late Wednesday, recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. “Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”
Mr Zelensky said he would ask in a video conference with Nato members that the alliance provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine, including any weapons the country needs to fend off the Russian onslaught.
Mr Biden was expected to discuss new sanctions and how to coordinate such measures, along with more military aid for Ukraine, with Nato members, and then talk with leaders of the G7 industrialised nations and the European Council in a series of meetings on Thursday.
On the eve of a meeting with Biden, European Union nations signed off on another 500 million euros ($550 million) in military aid for Ukraine.
06:03 AM
Russia likely to mobilise conscripts and reservists as losses mount — latest from the UK Ministry of Defence
05:29 AM
Russia intensifies air strikes on Wednesday, says Ukraine military
Russia stepped up its air strikes with over 250 recorded on Wednesday, sixty more than on the previous day, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“Enemy aviation continues active action, causing air strikes, with over 250 aircraft recorded over the last day (60 more than March 22).”
“The main goals of the opponent remain the objects of military and civilian infrastructure in the Kiev, Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.”
04:58 AM
Japan unsure how Russia will execute rouble payments for energy sold to ‘unfriendly’ nations
Japan does not know how Russia will handle the required rouble payments for its energy sold to “unfriendly” countries, the finance minister said on Thursday.
Japan accounted for 4.1 per cent of Russia’s crude oil exports and 7.2 per cent of its natural gas exports in 2021.
“Currently, we’re looking into the situation with relevant ministries as we don’t quite understand what is (Russia’s) intention and how they would do this,” Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said in a parliament session.
The government will also coordinate with Japanese companies to collect information about the move, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a Thursday news conference.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday his country would seek payment in roubles for gas sales to “unfriendly” countries in retaliation for Western sanctions against its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has put Japan on its “unfriendly” nation list along with the United States, European Union member states and others.
04:53 AM
Japan considers doubling humanitarian aid, loans to Ukraine
The Japanese government is considering extending additional humanitarian aid of $100 million to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, on top of the $100 million in assistance Japan has already announced, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.
The government is also looking into doubling emergency loans to Ukraine to $200 million and dispatching Self-Defence Force medical officers to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland and other neighbouring nations, NHK said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he plans to unveil Japan’s new support measures for Ukraine at a G7 summit meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels on Thursday.
04:48 AM
Russia has just 50 percent of air-launched cruise missiles left, says VOA reporter
Russia has only half of its supply of air-launched cruise missiles available to it, but still has plenty of surface-to-air missiles, said a VOA reporter, citing a senior US defence official.
Russia still has a “vast majority of their assembled available inventory of surface-to-air missiles and cruise missiles available to them,” said Carla Babb, VOA’s Pentagon correspondent.
“[T]he thing that they are running the lowest on are air-launched cruise missiles…just over 50% of what they had assembled left,” she said.
#Russia still has “vast majority of their assembled available inventory of surface-to-air missiles&cruise missiles available to them…the thing that they are running the lowest on are air-launched cruise missiles…just over 50% of what they had assembled left”-sr def official
— Carla Babb (@CarlaBabbVOA) March 23, 2022
04:38 AM
Pictured: A customer checks his rifle in a gun shop in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Wednesday
04:29 AM
Russia limits access to Google News
Russia’s media regulator has restricted access to the Google News service, accusing it of providing access to “false” information about Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
The decision was taken at the request of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, according to a statement by the country’s media regulator Roskomnadzor cited by the agencies.
The online news service “provided access to numerous publications and materials that contain false information… about the course of the special military operation on Ukrainian territory,” the statement said.
Google “confirmed that some people are having difficulty accessing the Google News app and website in Russia and that this is not due to any technical issues on our end,” a company spokesperson said.
04:28 AM
President Zelensky announcing support from UK following his conversation with Boris Johnson
Had a phone conversation with @BorisJohnson. Received assurances of his support on the eve of tomorrow’s important meetings. Discussed the course of hostilities and defense assistance to Ukraine. We will win together.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 23, 2022
04:23 AM
Putin going to G20 ‘a step too far’, says Australian PM
Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit with other world leaders at this year’s G20 summit would be “a step too far”, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Mr Putin has already been invited to the G20 heads of state summit in November by this year’s host Jakarta, and he intends to be there, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia said this week.
But Mr Morrison objected, citing Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine.
“I think we need to have people in the room that aren’t invading other countries,” he said.
The prime minister said he had been in “direct contact” with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about Putin’s attendance at the Group of 20, which brings together the world’s top economies, including the United States, China, Japan and some European nations.
04:20 AM
Zelensky calls for worldwide protests against Russia’s war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an impassioned plea on Thursday for citizens worldwide to pour onto streets and squares in global protest against Russia’s bloody month-old invasion.
In a late-night television address from the emptied streets of his nation’s besieged capital Kyiv, a defiant but visibly tired Mr Zelensky appealed in English for worldwide solidarity.
“The world must stop the war,” he said. “Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.”
His appeal came one month after Russian tanks rolled over the border, bringing a conflict that has killed untold thousands of civilians and soldiers on both sides.
More than ten million Ukrainians have already fled homes and cities under sustained Russian bombardment from land, sea and air.
03:19 AM
Up to 15,000 Russian soldiers killed since war began
NATO has estimated that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s war on Ukraine began one month ago.
In comparison, about 15,000 Russian troops lost their lives over 10 years in Afghanistan.
A senior NATO military official said the estimate had been based on information from Ukrainian authorities, Russia and intelligence gathered from open sources.
Ukraine has released little information about its own military fatalities.
However, President Volodymr Zelensky advised nearly two weeks ago that about 1,300 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed.
02:51 AM
Ukraine’s parliament recalls terror of invasion one month ago
The Ukrainian parliament has recalled the terror of the beginning of Russia’s invasion on February 24.
“We woke up to the whistling of rockets, the roar of explosions & the hell of fires in our homes,” it shared on Twitter on Thursday.
“We woke up to learn – with horror and pain – that war came to our homes, started by Russia.
“We are strong. We will keep on fighting until victory.”
2022. February 24. 04:00. We woke up to the whistling of rockets, the roar of explosions & the hell of fires in our homes. We woke up to learn – with horror and pain – that war came to our homes, started by Russia.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/Y1QIad51p1— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – Ukrainian Parliament (@ua_parliament) March 24, 2022
