Britain says ‘nothing is off the table’ on Russia sanctions amid escalating threat to Ukraine

News of the planned British deployment came as the United States and its allies continue to debate the likelihood and timing of any Russian strike on Ukraine.

Truss, asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions during an interview with the BBC Sunday, said it was “highly likely that he is looking" to invade Ukraine. “That is why we are doing all we can through deterrence and diplomacy to urge him to desist. That’s why we are strengthening our sanctions regime here in the United Kingdom. We’re going to be introducing new legislation so that we can hit targets including those who are key to the Kremlin’s continuation and the continuation of the Russian regime."

In a separate interview with Sky News, Truss did not rule out the possibility that the sanctions could include seizures of property in London owned by Russian “oligarchs.” She said "nothing is off the table.”

Officials in Washington and London have warned a Russian invasion is imminent, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not convinced, calling the military buildup at the border an act of “psychological pressure.” U.S. allies including France, Germany and Norway remain hopeful that some kind of diplomatic compromise can be reached.

The head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev on Sunday dismissed U.S. warnings that Russia could attack Ukraine as “absolutely ridiculous" and said Russia did not want war.

The British military commitment comes after President Biden said Friday he planned to send some U.S. troops to Eastern Europe to bolster NATO allies, describing the number as “not too many.” The U.S. military has issued “prepare to deploy” orders to 8,500 personnel.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that deploying more British forces to the region, including jets, warships and military specialists, would “send a clear message to the Kremlin — we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face Russian hostility.”

Johnson is expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and will visit the region in coming days.

Details of the U.K. offer — including a potential doubling of troop numbers in the region — will be finalized with NATO officials this week. The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been put on standby “to move within hours should tensions rise,” the government statement said.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of a House of Commons defense committee, said the tensions in Ukraine are “our Cuban missile crisis moment, and we must not blink.”

“From a Russian perspective, there’s never been a better time to invade Ukraine — something Putin has been wanting to do for a long time,” Ellwood told British broadcaster Sky News on Saturday. “He’s enjoying this international attention.”

Russia has repeatedly denied that its massive buildup of troops and military equipment around Ukraine, along with a wave of military exercises, is a precursor to a renewed assault.

“Today, they’re saying that Russia is threatening Ukraine. This is absolutely ridiculous. There is no threat,” Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, said Sunday at a wreath-laying ceremony at a cemetery.

"We do not want war. We don’t need it at all. Those who are pushing towards it, especially those from the West, they are pursuing some self-serving false goals of their own,” he said, adding that war against Ukraine “does not suit us.”

While debate rages over Moscow’s plans, many Russia-based analysts say the Kremlin’s military maneuvers may be brinkmanship designed to drive up pressure and extract concessions from the United States and NATO on Russia’s demand that Ukraine and other countries be barred from ever joining the Western alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on state television Sunday that it was clear to everyone that Ukraine was “not ready” to join NATO, because it would not strengthen the alliance. If Ukraine was ever admitted, this would destroy Russia-NATO relations, he warned.

Russian officials are reviewing U.S. and NATO counterproposals on security, submitted last week in answer to Russia’s earlier demands to limit NATO military activity in the former Soviet sphere. Russia has demanded that Ukraine and other former Soviet states be barred from joining the Western military alliance.

Lavrov on Friday described the NATO response as “ideologically motivated” and “permeated with its exceptional role and special mission.”

Western officials have warned that a Russian invasion, potentially similar to its 2014 annexation of Crimea, could come at any time. U.S. intelligence, relying in part on satellite imagery, has found that Russia is massing forces around Ukraine in support of a potential multi-front incursion.

Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said at a news conference Friday that the evidence of an imminent invasion was insufficient, accusing his Western counterparts of inciting “panic.”

Asked about Zelensky’s complaints on Sunday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said the Biden administration has been trying to ensure that Ukraine is “prepared” in the event of an attack.

“We’ve seen the Russian playbook before," she said. “They are using disinformation. They’re encouraging Ukrainians not to worry about an attack. But we know that the attack is possible. You don’t amass 100,000 troops if you don’t have intentions to use them,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

A diplomatic resolution to the crisis would need to include “Russia pulling troops back and coming to the diplomatic table and taking with U.S., Ukrainians NATO allies about security concerns,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“We’ve made clear that we’re prepared to address our concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns,” she said. “But it cannot be done on the battlefield.”

Even the Ukrainian leader downplayed the threat of an invasion, though thousands of civilians across the country are training for the worst. Army reservists — some armed only with wooden replica weapons or those they’ve obtained on their own — receive basic combat training and in a time of war would be under direct command of the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian citizens also have been trading advice about preparing for war on social media, including under the hashtag #миготові (#weareready).

The United States has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday to discuss Russia’s military buildup, as it pushes for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. Moscow has described the meeting as a “PR stunt,” but U.N. diplomats expressed confidence that any Russian bid to stop the meeting would be voted down, Reuters reported.

President Biden is also due to meet Monday with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani as U.S. officials work to shore up alternative energy supplies for Europe, which relies on Russian natural gas exports, in the event Moscow responds to potential sanctions by cutting off supplies.

Amy Wang contributed to this story from Washington.