Russia-Ukraine crisis LIVE: Boris Johnson addresses Commons after Putin sends troops into eastern Ukraine

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1645545173Joe Biden to give an update on Russia at 7pm

The US President will make a statement at 2pm local time (7pm UK time) amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Biden could outline sanctions the US may impose on Russia.

He has referred to the latest developments in eastern Ukraine as an “invasion” by Russia.

1645543352London ready to host Champions League final, says Sadiq Khan

London “stands ready” to host the Champions League final instead of St Petersburg after the Russian military action in Ukraine, Sadiq Khan said on Tuesday.

The Mayor of London intervened in the row over the hosting of the match as calls grew for its Russia to lose the right after Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

Mr Khan told LBC Radio: “London stands ready to host the Champions League final.

“Hosting the Champions League final is a privilege. The impression we would give if Uefa did have the final in St Petersburg is rewarding this sort of aggressive actions from Putin’s Russia.”

Read the full story here.

1645542164Sunak warns of ‘economic pain’ for Russia

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said “further economic pain” would be inflicted on Russia if its aggression against Ukraine continued.

He said: “The UK is imposing an initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s violation of international law and disregard of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“This is the first wave and we will not hesitate to inflict further economic pain alongside our allies if this aggression continues.”

1645541636Sanctions against Russia don’t go far enough, says Foreign Affairs committee chair

Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said UK sanctions against Russia should go “much further, much faster” than the three named allies of Putin and five Russian banks announced by the Government.

Mr Tugendhat said more should be done, arguing Mr Putin’s wealth should be “splashed all over every newspaper in the world”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “What you need to do is you need to be extremely clear, extremely quickly, and make it perfectly obvious that Russian dirty money and Russian influence peddling in the United Kingdom is not OK and that we ‘re going to defend the British people against the corruption that they bring.

So I would like to see the identification of President’s wealth – I’d like to see it splashed all over every newspaper in the world.”

Asked if these are things Western governments can do, Mr Tugendhat said: “Yes, absolutely… and I think we need to not only collect it, but expose it.”

1645541132Gas and oil prices could spike over Ukraine crisis, warns Boris Johnson

Gas and oil prices could spike as a consequence of “Putin’s venture”, Boris Johnson has said.

The warning comes after a question from Conservative former minister Robert Halfon, qho quizzed the PM on what assessment the Government has made of the impact on oil and gas prices from the Ukraine crisis.

Mr Johnson replied: “He is quite right that one of the risks of Putin’s venture is that there could be a spike in gas prices, in oil prices…

“The Government will do everything we can mitigate it and help the people in this country but it’s one of the reasons why the whole of Western Europe has got to end their dependence on Russian oil and gas.”

1645540448’Inevitable’ there will be more sanctions on Russia – Boris Johnson

It is “inevitable” that there will be more sanctions against Russia than just those announced today, Boris Johnson has said.

The Prime Minister’s comments in response to Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran, who pressed him on what the trigger for further sanctions will be.

Mr Johnson said: “I think it is inevitable that there will be more sanctions to come because I am afraid I think it’s inevitable that Vladimir Putin is going to continue with his flagrant violation of international law.”

Meanwhile, the Tory MP John Howell, who is the leader of the UK delegation to the Council of Europe, told the Commons he will be calling later today for “the suspension of Russia from the Council of Europe” and asked for the Prime Minister’s support .

Mr Johnson replied: “I wholeheartedly support what he just said.”

1645540167UN human rights chief ‘deeply concerned’ at Ukraine crisis

The UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has said she is “deeply concerned” after Putin’s decided to recognise the independence of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk separatist republics.

“Any significant escalation in military action creates a heightened risk of serious human rights violations as well as violations of international humanitarian law,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, according to the AFP agency.

She said that the priority, “must be to prevent a further escalation, and to prevent civilian injury”.

“I call on all sides to cease hostilities and to pave the way for dialogue instead of setting the stage for further violence,” she added.

1645539246 ‘Russia’s malign influence is global’ says Wallace

Continuing to speak to reporters in Leicestershire, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that “Russia’s malign activity” was “global” in scale.

He said that only a few days ago, the French announced a withdrawal from Mali because of the presence of a Russian mercenary group in the country joining up with the Malian Government.

“Russia is practising significant amounts of intimidation of the Black Sea, Russia is deploying significant amount of submarines and others into the Atlantic, and indeed further abroad,” he said.

“I think what is clear here is that the president has decided he wants to demonstrate a new Russia, in his view, a Russia with new invested arms and equipment.”

He added of Putin: “A man who doesn’t follow international law, a man who is now has a very large army on the doorstep seems of a sovereign state and to not even worry that the false flags and the fake news we are watching is so obvious, it is sadly almost comical.”

1645538097Medvedev threatens European gas price surge

Former Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has threatened Europe with a near-doubling of its gas prices after Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

He tweeted: “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has issued an order to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“Well. Welcome to the brave new world where Europeans are very soon going to pay €2,000 for 1.000 cubic meters of natural gas!”

It would be a near doubling of the price per thousand cubic feet, which is around $900.

1645537410We have ‘whole raft of sanctions available’, says Wallace

The UK has a “whole raft” of sanctions available it could use to apply pressure to Russia, Ben Wallace has said.

The defense secretary said: “We have a range of sanctions, we’ve made them public – we put them before Parliament a few weeks ago.

“We have decided to use some of those sanctions – that doesn’t mean to say we won’t use more.

“We are prepared with a whole raft of sanctions.

“We also know that the most important message to send to President Putin is that we are completely unified across Nato, the EU and the US and the UK.

“We must do all of these things in lockstep – that’s what we’re doing.”

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