We’ll make it ‘impossible’ for Russia to raise money in London, warns Boris Johnson

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The US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces have essentially advanced every capability needed for an invasion of the country, reports Rozina Sabur from Washington.

“They’re uncoiling and are now posed to strike,” Mr Austin said of the estimated 130,000 forces near Ukraine’s border.

The defense secretary, speaking on a trip to Lithuania, echoed Joe Biden’s assessment that Vladimir Putin has made a decision to stage a new invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Austin, a retired army general, said the Russian president had all the elements necessary to move on Ukraine at any time, including field hospitals, command units and other logistical support.

“Having done this before, I can tell you that’s exactly what you need to attack and the stance that you need to be in to attack,” he said.

But he added that invasion was still not a certainty. “Mr Putin can take a different path,” he said in a joint press conference with Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

Mr Landsbergis said he was concerned that if the Kremlin was willing to take Ukraine, Moscow would next target the Baltic states and Poland.

He said the West’s response to Russia’s previous incursions in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, may have demonstrated to Mr Putin that he can push further into neighboring countries, rattling the Baltics.

“Who’s next?” he said, “who could be the next target?”

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