Ukraine-Russia war: The era of complacency is over, says Liz Truss - BBC News
The foreign secretary uses a speech in Washington to argue for stronger action against Russia.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows that "the era of complacency" is over, the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned in a speech in Washington DC.

Addressing a think tank, Ms Truss said aggression, such as that shown by Vladimir Putin, can never again be allowed to "grow unchecked".

She also called for more defence spending and an end to dependence on "hostile and authoritarian states".

The West has reacted to Russia's invasion with a range of sanctions.

On Tuesday, the US and UK announced a ban on Russian oil, while the EU said it would end its reliance on Russian gas.

The same governments have frozen the assets of wealthy Russians believed to have links with Mr Putin.

In a tweet, Boris Johnson said he had spoken to Ukraine's President Zelensky, and that the UK would tighten sanctions to "impose the maximum economic cost on Russia" and increase military support to Ukraine.

Giving the Makins lecture to the Atlantic Council think tank, Ms Truss said countries need to introduce further sanctions - including banning Russia completely from using the international payment system, Swift and freezing all Russian banking assets.

She said all countries needed to go further on financing their defence capabilities, arguing that spending 2% of GDP was be a minimum target and that during the Cold War countries were spending upwards of 5%.

The foreign secretary also used her speech to argue that the war in Ukraine is a "paradigm shift" comparable with the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States.

She urged the West to "rise to his moment" by increasing pressure on the Russian president.

"How we respond today will set the pattern for this new era.

"We must start with the principle that the only thing aggressors understand is strength… and we must start by working together to stop Putin's offensive in Ukraine."

"We want a situation where they can't access their funds, they can't clear their payments, their trade can't flow, their ships can't dock and their planes can't land," she added.

More than two million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded Ukraine

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ms Truss warned there would be "terrible implications for European and global security" if Mr Putin were not stopped in Ukraine.

Responding to Ms Truss' comments, Labour's shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the invasion of Ukraine "marked the final end of the post-cold war era".

He criticised the Conservatives for "isolating Britain on the world stage" and said it was time "to bring Britain back to the table and deepen ties with our European partners".

He also called for a special tribunal to "prosecute Putin for the crime of aggression" and "an end to the UK's dependency on foreign energy".

The calls for stronger action come as western officials say they are "very concerned" Russia could resort to using non-conventional weapons.

This could include chemical weapons, biological weapons and dirty bombs.