Liz Truss fires back at NATO allies for not pulling their weight in Ukraine row

Liz Truss has hit out at NATO members and urged them to increase their spending on Defence as she claims President Vladimir Putin is "hell-bent" on invading Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

The Foreign Secretary told GB News' Stephen Dixon and Isabel Webster: “For years Russia has been building its military strength, it has been investing in high tech military capabilities.

“We the United Kingdom have upped our Defence spending, but we need to see NATO allies do that as well."

Boris Johnson told MPs that three oligarchs linked to the Kremlin and five smaller Russian banks were being targeted in the “first barrage” as the United States and the European Union unveiled similar measures.

The White House also signalled a halt to diplomatic moves to resolve the crisis, scrapping plans for a potential crisis summit between Putin and US President Joe Biden.

It follows Putin’s announcement that Russia would recognise the breakaway “republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, a move seen by many in the West as a precursor to a full-scale invasion.

Truss said it was still unclear whether Russian troops had crossed into the territories, after Putin said he was authorising the despatch of “peacekeepers” to the area.

She said Britain and other Western allies were determined to make it as difficult as possible for Russia if an attack does take place – including through the supply of defensive weaponry to Ukraine.

Truss explained to GB News: "We are prepared to take tough decisions, the Germans have shown they are prepared to take tough decisions with the cancellation of Nord Stream 2, the Americans have shown they are prepared to take tough decisions.

"What I’m saying is we should be prepared to take those tough decisions for the long-term sake of freedom and democracy in Europe. We are united with our allies in doing that."

But she offered a stark warning about the intentions of Putin, suggesting that Ukraine was the start of a larger invasion: “My view is he will not stop at Ukraine, if he is successful in Ukraine - and we’re doing all we can to stop him being successful - he will move on to wider Eastern Europe.

“He’s been publicly explicit about that.

“Protecting freedom and democracy in Europe is absolutely priceless"