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Dominic Raab has warned Vladimir Putin’s army leaders in Ukraine that they risk being prosecuted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court if they follow “illegal orders".
The Deputy prime minister said those “applying tactics by the Putin regime must be held to account”.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, he said this applied “not just (to) Putin himself, but also anyone taking illegal orders”.
“All of those commanders on the ground right through to the people around Putin in the Kremlin, what they do now, whether they give or whether they follow illegal orders to commit war crimes, they will be held to account for it, and they need to know that,” he said.
Mr Raab dismissed Vladimir Putin’s claim that the sanctions levelled against him and Russia were a declaration of war.
“Just to be clear, sanctions are not an act of war. International law (is) very clear about that," he said.
“Our sanctions are entirely both legally justified but also proportionate to what we’re trying to deal with.”
Dismissing fears that the Russian leader would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine crisis, Mr Raab called Mr Putin’s threats “rhetoric and brinkmanship”, and accused the Russian leader of having “a track record as long as anyone’s arm of misinformation and propaganda”.
The Russian president has alarmed the world by putting his arsenal on high alert.
Meanwhile, Russian media cited an unnamed source on Sunday as saying that Ukraine was close to building a plutonium-based “dirty bomb" nuclear weapon, although the source cited no evidence.
“This is a distraction from what the real issues are at hand, which is that it’s an illegal invasion and it is not going according to plan,” said Mr Raab.
He said that Ukrainian forces had “proved a far tougher prospect than Putin expected”. Economic sanctions had “put the squeeze on Putin” and therefore “what he’s now doing is responding with ever more brutal tactics”.
“I think we ought to be under no doubt that our mission with our allies is to ensure Putin fails in Ukraine, and it’s going to take some time." he said.
“We’re talking about months, if not years, and therefore we will have to show some strategic stamina because this is not going to be over in days.”
Urging international leaders to support Ukraine with “everything from military hardware through to cyber resilience”, Mr Raab ruled out a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff, said such a measure “would not help”.
He told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “The advice that we as senior military professionals are giving our politicians is to avoid doing things that are tactically ineffective and definitely to avoid doing things that tactically might lead to miscalculation or escalation.
“The no-fly zone would not help.
“Most of the shelling is coming from artillery, most of the destruction is coming from artillery. It’s not coming from Russian aircraft.
“If we were to police a no-fly zone, it means that we probably have to take out Russian defence systems and we would have Nato aircraft in the air alongside Russian aircraft, and then the potential of shooting them down and then that leads to an escalation.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
