World is not scared of ‘bully’ Putin, says Foreign Office minister

Vladimir Putin used “bully” tactics in his televised attempts to justify invading Ukraine, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said.

He also described the Russian president’s warning to the international community as an attempt to “scare” them away from responding, amid reports of explosions in key Ukrainian cities.

He said Mr Putin has no justification for his actions, and the rest of the world will not be cowed by Russian aggression.

“The international community stands shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their defence of their homeland.

“If Vladimir Putin thinks that he can scare the international community away from supporting Ukrainians in defence of their homeland, he is absolutely wrong on that and should be under absolutely no illusion that we will continue to support the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian people.”

Mr Putin issued a stark warning to other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen”.

He said the invasion was a response to threats from Ukraine.

But Mr Cleverly told Sky News: “The excuses that he (Mr Putin) has been giving, the justification that he’s giving, cannot be believed.”

He added: “The military leaders around Vladimir Putin must know that this is a catastrophically bad judgment call.

“I have no doubt the Ukrainian people will be ferocious in defence of their homeland.

“The military leaders must know that this will come at a huge cost – not just to Ukrainians.”

He said further economic sanctions against Russia will be announced later on Thursday, amid criticism that those already set out by the UK Government are weak.