Russia’s latest encroachment on Ukrainian soil by sending troops to Eastern Ukraine is an unacceptable infringement of its sovereignty.
Their senseless actions represent a flagrant breach of international law.
In his statement to the House today the Prime Minister spoke in no uncertain terms: A full scale invasion of a country of 44 million people cannot now be ruled out.
The Prime Minister, the Foreign and Defence Secretaries have kept Parliament and the public informed on our response throughout the crisis. We have worked around the clock with our international allies to seek a peaceful resolution. But the time has come for us to take decisive and direct action against Russia.
We are leading Western efforts to support our Ukrainian friends in the face of Russian aggression, by bolstering their defence capabilities while implementing unprecedented sanctions targeting high level Russian assets and wealth in the UK.
UK military personnel have carried out training for tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops to prepare for imminent warfare. We have also sent anti-tank weapons and other military hardware which according to leading defence analysts would “increase the risks to Russia if it launched a ground invasion into Ukraine”.
Russia has long been a destabilising presence on the world stage. As a future member of NATO Ukraine rightly deserves our full support in the face of Russian aggression.
Our NATO deployment to Estonia has doubled and we are prepared to send more troops if we receive such a request from NATO.
In addition, Russian banks and oligarchs have been sanctioned today - their assets frozen, travel banned, and all dealings in the UK prohibited.
The Government has also confirmed that further sanctions are ready to be deployed alongside US and European sanctions should the situation in Ukraine deteriorate further.
I welcome the Prime Minister's commitment that "Britain will not waver in our resolve" to stand shoulder to shoulder to protect our allies and interests.
This is a very serious situation that threatens the peace in Europe and it is right that the UK takes a strong lead in standing against Russian violation of international law.