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A Russian invasion of Ukraine is very imminent: UK minister
"Unfortunately, at the moment, an attack, an invasion seems far more likely than unlikely but we will continue to work to try and avert that," James Cleverly told Sky News.
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People hold signs and participate in a protest in Grand Central Station in the borough of Manhattan against war in Ukraine on February 19, 2022 in New York City. A coalition of antiwar, environmental, free speech, human rights and veterans groups joined forces to demonstrate against US/NATO war with Russia in Ukraine. (AFP/Stephanie Keith)
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Russian invasion of Ukraine now seems "far more likely than unlikely" and all the signs suggest it is "very, very imminent", Britain's minister for Europe said on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, at the moment, an attack, an invasion seems far more likely than unlikely but we will continue to work to try and avert that," James Cleverly told Sky News.
"Everything that we see indicates that invasion is very, very, highly likely and very, very imminent."
Meanwhile, the United States and Britain said they would seek to cut off Russian companies' access to US dollars and British pounds if the Kremlin orders an invasion of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC.
"The plan that we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945 just in terms of sheer scale," Johnson said.
Johnson said that sanctions on Russia in the event of an invasion would go much further than previously suggested in public.
He said the United Kingdom and the United States would stop Russian companies "trading in pounds and dollars" - a move that he said would "hit very, very hard" with its impact, the BBC reported.
Britain, home to the centre of global foreign exchange trading, had threatened to block Russian companies from raising capital in London and to expose property and company ownership if Russia invades Ukraine.
Russia denies it plans to annex another part of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin says the West is sowing hysteria in a crude attempt to lure Russia into war after ignoring the Kremlin's concerns about NATO enlargement after the Cold War.
Russia has more than 150,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and the United States, Britain, the European Union and NATO fear Putin may be planning to invade in a bid to restore some of the territory and clout lost by Moscow when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Given Russia's position as one of the world's top exporters of oil, gas and metals - which are largely priced and settled in US dollars - blocking Russian companies from access to dollar markets could have a stinging impact.
Putin has repeatedly called for reducing reliance on the US dollar trade.
Russia's largest oil company Rosneft ROSN.MM fully switched the currency of its contracts to euros from US dollars to shield its transactions from US sanctions, CEO Igor Sechin said in 2019.
Johnson has said the government would target Russian banks and Russian companies. Britain has not spelled out who would fall under the sanctions, but has pledged that there would be nowhere for Russian oligarchs to hide.
