Russia would retaliate should new sanctions be imposed by the UK, according to Sergei Lavrov, the country’s foreign minister.
It comes after Britain threatened yesterday (Tuesday) to prevent Russian companies and oligarchs from making money in the UK, according to Reuters.
Lavrov vowed Moscow would respond to any action taken by London, having also had an icy meeting with UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss last week.
‘Very, very tough’ sanctions announced by Boris Johnson
Meanwhile, prime minister Boris Johnson said Britain has a “very, very tough” sanctions package “ready to go” if Russia invades Ukraine, Sky News has reported.
He said: “What we’re doing is targeting particular Russian banks, Russian companies, and making sure that we take steps, take even more steps, to unseal the facade of Russian property holdings… whether in London or elsewhere.
“Unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies. And also take steps to take Russian companies from raising capital on London financial markets.”
The UK Foreign Office said legislation laid in Parliament last week would let Britain sanction those with Russia links who are involved in the conflict with Ukraine, and businesses which have “economic and strategic significance” to the Russian government.
‘Autocratic’ sanctions decision, Labour said
But Labour accused the Tories of behaving in an “autocratic” manner over Britain’s new sanctions regime, according to The Independent.
David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary, said MPs “deserve the opportunity to scrutinise and debate these measures and they need to be in place”.
“With 130,000 troops threatening Ukraine, the opposition stands ready to work with the government in the national interest to get the appropriate measures in place. We can only do so if the government keeps its promise to bring forth this sanctions legislation. Where is it?”
But Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said last week he had already signed the legislation and it would come into force.
It prompted Labour MP Chris Bryant to say Cleverly was “wrong to say” I was “just going to happen”, adding it was “autocratic” to publish legislation without allowing scrutiny.
“It’s completely autocratic for government to publish legislation without any opportunity for anybody to scrutinise it, and frankly they have just been lazy. We’re Johnny-come-latelies when it comes to sanctions in this area,” Bryant said.
Russia ‘doesn’t give a s**t’
Russia’s ambassador to Sweden said last weekend that his country “doesn’t give a s**t” about Western threats of sanctions if it were to invade Ukraine.
“Excuse my language, but we don’t give a shit about all their sanctions,” Viktor Tatarintsev told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview published on Saturday.
“We have already had so many sanctions and in that sense they’ve had a positive effect on our economy and agriculture,” the diplomat said, according to the AFP news agency.
Tatarintsev said new sanctions against Russia are not positive, but “not as bad as the West makes it sound” because the country is “more self-sufficient”, Newsweek has reported.
Related: Human cost of a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be ‘immense’, Biden warns