12 Tuesday April 5 2022 | the times
News
Britain urged G7 allies to ban Russia
fully from the Swift banking system as
Ukraine called for the West to end “half
measures” after the latest evidence of
atrocities by President Putin’s forces.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign
Cut Russia right out of
banking, Britain urges
Chris Smyth Whitehall Editor minister, said the discovery of mass
graves in Bucha “require serious G7 and
EU sanctions” and he asked western
nations to embrace economically pain-
ful measures.
Boris Johnson said the discovery of
more graves outside Kyiv was “sicken-
ing” and pledged that “the UK will not
stand idly by whilst this indiscriminate
slaughter takes place”.
As well as stepping up the investi-
gation of Russian commanders for war
crimes, Britain is calling for a fresh
sanctions in the belief that the latest
atrocities will have swept away previ-
ous reluctance in EU capitals. At a pressconference in Warsaw, Kuleba praised
Britain’s “political will to do more”,
saying it was “time to put all
hesitation, reluctance, business-wise
arguments aside”. He said: “The West
continues to fuel the Russian war
machine with payments for fossil fuels,
with trade that is still taking place
between Russia and western countries,
with financial transactions conducted
through Russian banks that have not
been disconnected from Swift yet.”
He called for the West “to take the
most severe sanctions against Russia
this week. This is not the request of
Ukraine’s foreign minister; this is the
plea of the victims of rape, torture and
killings, their relatives and the entire
Ukrainian nation.”
As well demanding a deadline for
ending the use of Russian oil and gas,
Britain is renewing its push to expel
Russia completely from Swift. Nations
in western Europe resisted the pro-
posals last month but British officials
hope they will now accept the need for
some economic pain at home.
Downing Street said “there is more
we can do on Swift”, with only some
Russian banks banned from the inter-
national payments system. Britain
wants Russia kicked out the system
entirely but some EU countries are un-
derstood to be holding out.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, will
spend the week pressing Nato and the
G7 to intensify sanctions. She has
raised the issue with Josep Borrell, the
EU foreign policy chief, and will travel
to Nato headquarters in Brussels this
week to try to stiffen resolve.
The demand for the West to agree a
deadline for ending the use of Russian
energy is seen as by far the biggest
measure being pushed by Britain. UK
officials accept it may not be realistic to
expect a date to be set this week but
believe it will be impossible to claim the
West is doing all it can until the com-
mitment has been made.
Downing Street said the world
should at “maximum speed cut out oil
and gas [from Russia] because it is the
money we are providing that is funding
the Russian war machine and we
should be in no doubt about where that
money is going.”
Johnson’s spokesman said Britain
was “one of the only countries that has
banned Russian ships from our ports.
So we will continue to speak with allies
about how we can move further to
ratchet up the pressure. We know it’s
having a significant impact on the Rus-
sian war machine and economy.”
Saying that “being tough is the only
approach that will work” against Putin,
Truss said Ukraine must be helped on
the battlefield to ensure its “hand is
strengthened at the negotiating table”.
Setting conditions for any easing
of sanctions, she said: “We need to see
Putin withdraw his troops, we need to
see Ukraine’s full territorial integrity
restored, we need to see Russia’s ability
for further aggression stopped, we need
a plan to rebuild Ukraine and we need
justice done.”
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary,
said: “President Putin and his com-
manders should know that they will be
held to account for war crimes commit-
ted.” He said Britain would ensure a liai-
son officer at the Hague would help in-
vestigations into alleged war crimes,
adding: “We will provide military ana-
lysis and witness protection advice and
support so that justice is served, and
those responsible end up behind bars.”A British security guard suspected of
spying for Russia is to be extradited
from Germany to the UK.
David Smith, 57, who worked for the
British embassy, was arrested at his
home in Potsdam near Berlin in August
accused of giving Moscow the names of
British officials.
He will appear at Westminster
magistrates’ court on Thursday.
A joint investigation by German and
British security services found that he
had been selling information to Russia
since late 2020 after MI5 and their
European counterparts had trailed him
for months.
It is believed that the information he
had been selling was classified below
secret level, The Daily Telegraph said.News War in Ukraine
A child waits for a train at Kramatorsk,Sus p e c te d
Laurence Sleator