UK FM warns 'worst-case scenario' of Russian invasion can happen 'as early as next week'

UK’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Saturday warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which she described as a “worst-case scenario” could happen as early as next week, as she accused Moscow of not being “serious about diplomacy”. Speaking to the British reporters, Truss stated that the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech at the Munich conference was “extremely sobering” as the latter also called for Russian authoritarian leader Putin for talks, an offer not yet heeded by Moscow. “This is one of the most dangerous moments for European security that we've experienced since early in the 20th century,” stressed UK’s foreign secretary. 

“We [UK, NATO, US and allies] need to show unprecedented unity,” Truss said, echoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s similar calls made in his speech at the Munich conference. 

“There were many people who would want to think hopefully about the situation, but I think we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and that worst-case scenario could happen as early as next week,” warned Truss. 

NATO 'no threat' says Truss, evoking Putin's speech at the Munich conference 15 years ago

UK’s foreign secretary had earlier personally visited Moscow to draft a diplomatic way forward in the Russia Ukraine crisis. Ahead of her trip, she had threatened Russia with tough sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine, which Moscow had condemned. Russia’s top diplomat described talks with the British foreign secretary like a conversation of “the mute with the deaf” as the duo later appeared at a rather dour press conference as they each accused the other of stoking regional tensions. 

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had told reporters that he had found no common ground with his British counterpart and that the talks contained “nothing secret, no trust. Just slogans shouted from the tribunes.” He accused his British counterpart of not losing her defiant anti-Russian tone throughout their two-hour meeting. “I’m honestly disappointed that our conversation,” Lavrov stressed, adding that Britain “bounced off the facts” presented by the Russian side. 

Later at her keynote speech in Ukraine, she pledged that the UK stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine on the spectre of Russian armed invasion and that there is “no evidence” that Russian forces are withdrawing from the Ukrainian border. “Kremlin has had every offer of diplomacy – the Normandy process, proposals for further talks in the NATO-Russia Council, transparency mechanisms through the OSCE, and countless bilateral discussions,” she iterated, adding that it is Russia that is “not engaging with these proposals.” About 15 years ago, Russian President Putin spoke at the Munich Security Conference and labelled NATO as a “serious regional threat.” UK’s foreign secretary iterated that Russia faces “no threat from NATO or Ukraine.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Munich conference, UK foreign secretary stressed that the UK is “resolute in imposing severe costs on Russia in the event of an invasion, including tough sanctions.” “We will stop oligarchs from being able to move their money internationally. We will stop them from travelling, and we will make it tougher for Russian companies to tap into our capital markets. And we're also going to make it harder for Russia to access sovereign debt markets,” she noted. Truss also declared that the UK is prepared to supply defensive support to Ukraine in the face of Russian belligerence. 

Image: AP