Cost Of Living Will Rise With Russia Sanctions, Says Truss

Sanctions imposed on Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine will make the domestic cost of living crisis worse, the foreign secretary has admitted. Liz Truss said Britain must be prepared to take an “economic hit”, but insisted it would be “far worse” to allow Vladimir Putin to succeed in his military offensive in Ukraine.

- Ashley Cowburn

As pressure builds for further sanctions against the Kremlin, the minister said the UK government was drawing up a “hit list” of oligarchs whose property and assets would be targeted. Earlier this week, No 10 imposed asset freezes on several Russian banks, airlines, and billionaires associated with the Kremlin, and said that sanctions would be targeted personally at the Russian president.

Over the weekend, the US, the UK and the EU also agreed to ban “selected” Russian banks from the global payments system Swift, which connects thousands of financial institutions around the world. “We are taking apart every bit of the Russian system,” Ms Truss told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.