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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was not enough for the international community to simply express support for Kyiv without action as he prepared a six-point plan which, he hoped, would ensure Russia failed in its “horrific” invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Johnson said that “it is not future historians but the people of Ukraine who will be our judge” of how the world reacts to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “hideous, barbarous assault”.
“Putin must fail and must be seen to fail in this act of aggression," Mr Johnson said before a series of meetings in the coming days on events in Eastern Europe.
“It is not enough to express our support for the rules-based international order – we must defend it against a sustained attempt to rewrite the rules by military force.”
Mr Johnson is to speak fellow leaders to make a “renewed and concerted effort” to tackle Russia, Downing Street said.
Already, 141 nations have denounced the Kremlin’s actions at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.
About 38 countries, co-ordinated by the UK, led the largest referral to the International Criminal Court yet.
But Mr Johnson is set to tell leaders, in an essay in the New York Times on Sunday, that the international community must come together under a six-point plan to keep the pressure on.
The prime minister will call on leaders to mobilise an “international humanitarian coalition” for Ukraine and support the country “in its efforts to provide for its own self-defence”.
The economic pressure on the Kremlin should be intensified, Mr Johnson will say, and he will add that leaders must resist the “creeping normalisation” of what Russia is doing in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson will also say that while diplomatic paths to resolving the war must be pursued, this could only be done with the full participation of the “legitimate government of Ukraine”.
He will add that there also needs to be a “rapid campaign to strengthen security and resilience across the Euro-Atlantic area”.
The PM will repeat his message when he meets Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Downing Street on Monday.
On Tuesday, Mr Johnson will host leaders of the V4 group of central European nations – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
Downing Street said it was these countries that are already facing the humanitarian crisis caused by the invasion, as the number of people fleeing Ukraine reached 1.4 million in 10 days.
“The world is watching,” Mr Johnson said.
