British foreign minister Liz Truss is expected to urge the west to get tougher on Russian President Vladimir Putin and “ramp up the global pressure” on Russia for invading Ukraine during a Thursday speech.
Truss, who is currently visiting the U.S., will tell the Atlantic Council think tank that Putin has “shattered the architecture of global security,” according to Reuters.
“We must rise to this moment. We must pledge that never again will we allow such aggression to grow unchecked,” she will say, according to excerpts of her speech obtained by Reuters. “That means acting now. It means being tough – because we know that the costs will only rise if we don’t.”
The U.S., U.K. and other western allies have slapped numerous sanctions on Russia, including removing banks from the global SWIFT system, freezing central bank assets held abroad, and targeting numerous officials and oligarchs close to Putin.
President Biden on Tuesday also announced a ban on Russian oil, going after the lynchpin of Russia’s economy.
But Truss will say that sanctions “must go further” in order to “keep tightening the vice” on Moscow and its allies.
“We want a situation where they can’t access their funds, they can’t clear their payments, their trade can’t flow, their ships can’t dock and their planes can’t land,” she plans to say, per Reuters.
The British foreign minister’s warning comes amid increasing fears of Putin escalating the war by using chemical or nuclear weapons, as he becomes increasingly frustrated with Ukrainian resistance.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday warned of the potential for Russia to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, while The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense said that Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed it used a Soviet-era thermobaric rocket launching weapon.
Truss will also remind the west that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which is entering its second week, could upend the world order if left unchecked.
“If we let Putin’s expansionism go unchallenged it would send a dangerous message to would-be aggressors and authoritarians around the world,” she will say, according to Reuters.
