Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed the UK and its allies would respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said 'this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure'.
In a TV address to the nation, Mr Johnson promised a 'massive' package of sanctions' 'designed to hobble the Russian economy' and said the world could not allow the freedom of Ukraine to be 'snuffed out'. "We cannot and will not just look away," said the prime minister.
He spoke after Russian forces have launched a major military assault on Ukraine, with reports of missile strikes and explosions near major cities.
Mr Johnson said: "A vast invasion is under way by land, by sea and by air. And this is not, in the infamous phrase, some faraway country of which we know little. “We have Ukrainian friends in this country, neighbours, co-workers.
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