Liz Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, said Russian oligarchs and key supporters of Vladimir Putin would face British sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine, but left Britain’s much-criticized anti-corruption laws in high gear. part intact.

Insisting that the Russian president’s allies would have nowhere to hide their assets if an invasion took place, the Foreign Office, clearly working closely with the US, threatened to seize the circle’s wealth Putin’s politicians and backers.

Truss, making a statement to MPs on Monday, declined to name individual Russians at risk of punishment, saying the aim was to create maximum anxiety among Putin’s allies.

Truss said the new legislation, which will be in place by February 10, would be the “toughest sanctions regime we have ever had against Russia” and would give the UK “the power to sanction a greater wide range of individuals and businesses”.

She said the package meant the UK ‘can target anyone providing strategic support close to Vladimir Putin’.

Labor criticized the package for failing to speed up long-promised structural measures to tackle money laundering in the UK, including measures first announced by David Cameron in 2014 and 2015.

David Lammy, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said: “The proposals must be part of a coherent policy.

“For years, Labor has been sounding the alarm about the role of dirty money in keeping Putin in power. Warning after warning, report after report, the government fell asleep at the wheel. London is the destination of choice for the kleptocrats of the world. We are home to services and enablers that help corrupt elites hide their ill-gotten wealth.

Boris Johnson’s efforts to play a leading role in the Ukraine crisis were shattered when he had to cancel his planned call with Putin so he could answer questions from the Commons about the Gray report on the parties of Downing Street.

Number 10 attempted to reschedule the call, but Moscow said that was not possible, leaving Johnson to say he would speak with the Russian president as soon as a time could be agreed.

A US official, exposing the Biden administration’s largely identical plans to touch the personal wealth of Putin’s coterie, said: “The individuals we have identified are in or near inner circles of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision-making or are at least complicit in the destabilizing behavior of the Kremlin.

Russia has described the transatlantic measures as extremely alarming and likely to damage the business climate in the UK.

The net of those who could be subject to sanctions in the UK widens in the event of an invasion by making Russians and companies supporting Putin subject to travel bans and asset freezes. Previously, only those found guilty of destabilizing Ukraine’s sovereignty could be punished, although the UK can and has sanctioned Russians for human rights abuses and corruption.

Currently, 180 individuals and 48 Russian entities are subject to British sanctions, more than half of which are linked to the destabilization of Ukraine.

Truss, expected in Moscow for talks within the next fortnight, told MPs the proposals meant the UK would be able to act in concert with the US. “Whether you support Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine, or have broader significance to the Kremlin, we will have the power to sanction you,” she said. “Nothing is on the table and there will be nowhere to hide.

“This will represent the toughest sanctions regime we have ever put in place against Russia, and will mark the biggest change in our approach since leaving the European Union.”

The reference to the fact that nothing is excluded was intended to show that the government has not abandoned other structural measures. These include reforms to Companies House, a register of properties held by foreign citizens and a public register of beneficial owners in Britain’s overseas territories – measures which have been repeatedly promised but delayed due to opposition from the City of London. Some of the strongest opposition comes from the Gulf states, not Russia.

An economic crime bill containing numerous measures looks likely to be delayed, a move that has infuriated the government’s own anti-corruption czar, John Penrose. In the House of Lords on Monday, ministers were questioned about their personal links to companies operating in tax havens.

John Heathershaw, co-author of a recent Chatham House report on “the problem of kleptocracy in Britain”, said: “The use of sanctions appears here as an ad hoc and preventive measure – essentially as a form of deterrence. The reason such measures are needed is that there is already a lot of money in the UK from Russia which has been welcomed by UK banks, estate agents, football clubs and businesses with minimal controls over sources of wealth and beneficial owners. The problems that led the UK to welcome suspicious Russian wealth are structural British problems.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described Truss’ package as an “extremely alarming” statement that “undermines the attractiveness of investment and the attractiveness of the UK as such”. “It’s not often you see or hear such direct threats to attack a business,” he told reporters.

He added that Moscow would “start from its own interests when formulating retaliatory measures”. “An attack by a particular country against Russian companies of course involves retaliatory measures,” he said.

Russia’s Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, stressed that the UK was now pursuing an “aggressive line” in Europe regarding Ukraine. He said the exaggeration of the “Russian threat” was fueled by Britain’s domestic issues.

Last week, Russia expanded its blacklist of EU and member state personnel on a no-fly list that Russia said “was personally involved in promoting anti-Russian policy”.