Britain prepares Russia sanctions

The “first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia” will be announced on Tuesday, Boris Johnson said, as one of his senior cabinet ministers said the Russian “invasion of Ukraine has begun”.

Johnson said the Kremlin was bent on a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and said the UK’s sanctions would hit the “economic interests that have been supporting Russia’s war machine”, a suggestion the UK was prepared to continue ratcheting up measures.

“They will hit Russia very hard and there is a lot more that we are going to do in the event of an invasion. Be in no doubt that if Russian companies are prevented from raising capital on the UK financial markets, if we unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies, of property, it will start to hurt," The Guardian cited him as saying.

Johnson convened the 6.30am meeting as Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the Ukrainian border into territories in the east of the country, where Russian troops already have significant presence. A statement to MPs is expected later on Tuesday.