International Military - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the media that Russia was currently planning the biggest war since 1945 in Europe. Johnson told the BBC in an interview. Launched from BBC.com, Yes said that "Intelligence shows Russia intends to launch an invasion that will surround the Ukrainian capital, Kiev,".
According to the latest US government estimates, there are between 169,000-190,000 Russian troops currently stationed along the Ukrainian border, both in Russia and neighboring Belarus - this figure also includes rebels in eastern Ukraine.
He also indicated his country would impose wider sanctions on Russia than previously announced. He said Britain and the US would stop Russian companies from "trading in pounds and dollars" a move he said would hit Russia "very hard" with the repercussions.
The British government has long been accused of turning a blind eye to the lucrative flow of Russian money through London, some of which has ended up in conservative coffers even though Johnson's party says all of its donations are legal.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported on a list of elite party donors who it said had privileged access to the Johnson government, including Lubov Chernukhin, who is married to Putin's former deputy finance minister, Vladimir Chernukhin.
Amid accusations that the Vladimir Putin regime has vast wealth hidden abroad, British laws on the ownership of companies and property have also long benefited investors who wish to keep their involvement secret.
But Boris Johnson said Saturday that Britain intends to "unlock the Matryoshka dolls of Russian-owned companies and Russian-owned entities, to find the main beneficiaries in them".
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Liz Truss told the Mail On Sunday newspaper that unless Russia was stopped in Ukraine, Putin would "turn back time to the mid-1990s or even before that" by possibly annexing the Baltic States and the Western Balkans.
Western powers have warned in recent weeks that Russia could be preparing to attack Ukraine at any moment. But the warning was denied by Russia, which said it was carrying out military exercises in the region.
Asked if a Russian invasion was still considered imminent, Johnson said: "In fact all signs suggest that the plan has in some ways begun." He also quoted US President Joe Biden as telling Western intelligence leaders about the invasion plan. Russian troops are said to be planning not only to enter Ukraine from the east, via the Donbas, but also to descend from Belarus and the area around Kiev.
"I'm afraid to say that the plan we're looking at is for something that could be the biggest war in Europe since 1945," Johnson said.
"People need to consider not only the potential loss of Ukrainian lives, but also the "young Russian people", he added. This was stated by Johnson after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In his speech, Johnson said that any invasion of Ukraine by Russia would " resounds throughout the world"