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British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will tell the UN Human Rights Council that Russia must be isolated on the international stage in punishment for killing “Ukrainians indiscriminately”.
Ms Truss is due to address a meeting of the council in Geneva on Tuesday after the “unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine”, the Foreign Office said.
She is expected to tell the council that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “blood on his hands” and that he has broken international law by sending troops into Ukraine.
The comments are due to be made 24 hours after Moscow suggested it had put its Russian nuclear deterrent on high alert in response to unspecified comments made by Ms Truss.
While in Switzerland, she is also due to meet other foreign ministers and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
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A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters -
People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP -
Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP -
A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -
Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP -
A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP -
Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP -
Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters -
An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters -
Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP -
A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP -
Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters -
Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP -
Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters -
People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -
A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP -
People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA -
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP -
People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP -
A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP -
A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty -
Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters -
Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP -
Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -
People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters -
Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP -
A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters -
An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters -
The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA -
The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA -
A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP -
A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA -
Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -
A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP -
Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP
Ms Truss is expected to tell the UN council: “The consequences of Vladimir Putin’s unjustified aggression are horrific. Russian troops are laying siege to once peaceful cities.
“Tanks are tearing through towns while missiles barrage homes and hospitals. There is blood on his hands, not just of innocent Ukrainians but the men he sent to die.
“Putin is violating international law, including the UN charter. He is violating human rights on an industrial scale and the world will not stand for it.
“There are no shades of grey to this conflict. It is about right and wrong. This is Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war against a sovereign nation. There can be no apologising or excusing it.
“I urge nations to condemn Russia’s appalling actions and to isolate it on the international stage.”
Ms Truss will discuss the Ukrainian conflict with foreign ministers including Canada’s Melanie Joly, the Czech Republic’s Jan Lipavsky, Danish minister Jeppe Kofod and Poland’s Zbigniew Rau.
She will also hold talks with Martin Griffiths, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will also pursue diplomatic efforts on Tuesday as he is due to visit Poland and Estonia.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson was looking to use his trip to “first hand” find out “what more we can be doing and how we can be working closely together” with both countries.
He will also speak with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg while in eastern Europe.
“I will visit Poland and Estonia, two countries that are acutely affected by the current crisis in Ukraine," Mr Johnson said.
"We have shared values that are more important than ever to protect, as the humanitarian situation gets worse.
“Alongside all our international allies, the UK will continue to bring maximum pressure to bear on Putin’s regime to ensure he feels the consequences of his actions in Ukraine.
"We speak with one voice when we say, 'Putin must fail'.”
Mr Johnson also spoke to G7 and other world leaders on Monday about the situation in Ukraine.
They agreed to “pursue every avenue to ensure that Putin fails”, Downing Street said.
“The Prime Minister stressed the need for countries to continue supporting the Ukrainian government, including with the provision of defensive weapons," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
“He also underlined the need for an international response to the emerging humanitarian crisis, including through supporting Ukraine’s neighbours to deal with large numbers of Ukrainians escaping violence in the country.
“The prime minister welcomed the unity of message and action between countries in recent days in response to Russia’s invasion.
“He stressed the need to continue applying pressure on Putin’s regime, including on Swift, with sanctions and with trade restrictions.
"The prime minister commended the progress over the weekend with all G7 countries agreeing to remove Russian banks from Swift."
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People desperate to leave Ukraine try to board a train at the railway station in Lviv. All photos: Oliver Marsden for The National -
Ukrainian men returning from Poland to fight for their country help pass over donations of clothes at the border crossing from Poland into Ukraine. -
A train driver tells people on the platform that he cannot pick anyone up at the station in Lviv. -
An elderly woman sits alone waiting to cross the border from Ukraine into Poland as fighting continues. -
Days-long waits to cross borders have been reported. -
Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 have been stopped from leaving Ukraine amid a conscription drive to defend against Russia. -
A couple carry their child out of the ticket hall at Lviv railway station. -
A family attempts to walk the last 25 kilometres of the journey to the Polish border. -
A mother tries to keep her daughter warm on the platform of Lviv railway station. -
Elise from Kiev sits waiting for a train to take her out of Ukraine after hearing that Poland has closed its borders.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Truss laid out plans blocking customers of all Russian banks from accessing any services in the UK.
She told Parliament that three more Russian banks would be added to the government’s sanctions list, and that new legislation will also affect Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank.
She said the move was designed to stop three million Russian companies from having access to any foreign investment from the UK.
“Global giants like Gazprom will no longer be able to issue debt or equity in London,” Ms Truss said.
“[We want] a situation where they can’t access their funds, their trade can’t flow, their ships can’t dock and their planes can’t land."
Selected banks will also be cut from the Swift international money transfer system, as politicians look to announce a total ban from Russian banks using the service.
The three named banks immediately added to the sanctions list are Russia’s national development bank, VEB; the third largest privately owned financial institution in Russia, Sovcombank; and one of Russia’s largest commercial banks, Otkritiye.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it would launch its own "war bonds" to raise funds and analysts suggested Russia could default on its loan obligations as a result of the economic squeeze on the country.
Earlier in the day, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government would match new sanctions imposed by the US and the EU over the weekend by preventing Russian central banks from accessing cash in the UK.
The move by the UK, the US and the EU means the Russian Central Bank, National Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance will struggle to access cash reserves.
It led to the rouble dropping more than 20 per cent against the dollar and it could have fallen further if not for the central bank raising interest rates from 9.5 per cent to 20 per cent on Monday.
Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said the moves were turning the conflict into a “financial war”.
“Not only are most Russian banks now to be excluded from Swift but the Russian Central Bank’s reserves have now been effectively frozen," Mr Reid said.
“At the last recorded data in June 2021, Russia had around $630bn of foreign reserves", most of which is probably still in G10 banks and central banks.
“This is in effect a financial war now,” he said.
Central banks typically hold reserves overseas in dollars and other major global currencies.
The sanctions mean Moscow has no access to those funds, which the central banks could have used to prop up the country’s currency.
They also cannot issue new government bonds to raise fresh money because international investors are unable, or unlikely, to take on Russian debt.
“These measures demonstrate our determination to apply severe economic sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine," Mr Sunak said.
“We are announcing this action in rapid co-ordination with our US and European allies to move in lockstep once more with our international partners, to demonstrate our steadfast resolve in imposing the highest costs on Russia and to cut her off from the international financial system so long as this conflict persists."
The new rules also stop anyone in the UK processing any financial deals or transactions for the Russian central bank and wealth funds or various Russian banks.
It stops Russian companies from raising fresh money from international investors to refinance debt – although few are in desperate need to renew their bonds, which typically run for several years before needing to be repaid.
