UK PM: Sanctions on Russia should continue until withdrawal from Ukraine

• 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the West should increase economic sanctions on Russia until it withdraws all its soldiers from Ukraine.

Johnson told MPs at a parliament hearing, "I certainly don't think that you could expect the G7 to lift sanctions simply because there's been a ceasefire in Ukraine. That again goes straight into Putin's playbook."

"My view is we should intensify sanctions with a rolling programme until every single one of his troops is out of Ukraine," he added when answering a question about lifting sanctions on Russia.

Johnson also mentioned that London was looking at "going up a gear" in its aid to Ukraine, and that could involve armored personnel carriers to help the forces escape the besieged city of Mariupol.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had said on Sunday that the sanctions should only be removed following a "full ceasefire and withdrawal."

The Foreign Secretary told the Sunday Telegraph that the West had to remain tough "to get peace" and that Moscow would also have to commit to "no further aggression" to avoid them being reimposed.

Over 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses have so far been sanctioned by the US, UK, and the EU.

Truss claims that Russia is not serious about negotiations at present, but said that a negotiations unit has been set up to assist Ukraine once Moscow 'changes its attitude' regarding talks. 

"That's why... we need to double down on sanctions," she said.

Russia launched a special military operation for several reasons, including NATO's eastward expansion. Other reasons were the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.

In response, the US and its allies have rolled out comprehensive sanctions, including restrictions on the Russian central bank, export control measures, SWIFT cutoff for select banks, and closure of airspace to all Russian flights. Many of their companies have suspended their Russian operations.