London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 19, 2026

UK’s Liz Truss says Russia sanctions should end only after withdrawal

UK’s Liz Truss says Russia sanctions should end only after withdrawal

Sanctions on Russia are a "hard lever" that should only be removed following a "full ceasefire and withdrawal" from Ukraine, the foreign secretary says.
Liz Truss told the Sunday Telegraph that Moscow would also have to commit to "no further aggression" or face the prospect of them being reimposed.

The West had to remain "tough to get peace", she said.

The UK, US, and EU have so far imposed sanctions on over 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses.

This week saw Moscow announce it would be refocusing its military operations in Ukraine to the country's east.

The move was interpreted by many as a sign that the Kremlin was looking to scale back an invasion that has so far made significantly less progress than was widely expected.

Ms Truss said that a negotiations unit had been set up to assist Ukraine once the Russians were "serious" about negotiations, but added: "I don't believe they are serious at present."

"That's why... we need to double down on sanctions," she said.

The foreign secretary has previously said she believes the peace talks are a "smokescreen" designed to distract from Russia's actions and allow its armed forces time to regroup.

It comes after the government announced it had detained indefinitely two jets owned by Russian oligarch Eugene Shvidler, who had been sanctioned over his ties with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

The jets, estimated to be worth $60m (£45m), were seized at Farnborough and Biggin Hill airports following a three-week investigation.

Ms Truss said she believed more should have been done to deter Mr Putin following his annexation of Crimea in 2014.
"So there needs to be hard levers," she said. "Of course, sanctions are a hard lever."

"Those sanctions should only come off with a full ceasefire and withdrawal, but also commitments that there will be no further aggression."

She added that "snapback sanctions" could be used in the event of more aggression in the future.

As well as sanctions on individuals, recent weeks have seen dozens of countries impose bans on the export of luxury goods to Russia and close their airspace to Russian airlines.

Some Russian banks have also been banned from using Swift, the system used to manage international payments, and efforts are underway to explore how Europe can reduce its dependency on Russian oil and gas.

Ms Truss's comments echo those of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who said this month that the sanctions on Russia were "not designed to be permanent".

Mr Blinken said the sanctions could "go away" in the event of an "irreversible" withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.

However, speaking in Poland on Saturday, President Biden said that, while sanctions were weakening Russia, the West needed to "steel ourselves for the long fight ahead".

Asked about ongoing disagreements with the EU about the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which sets out the post-Brexit trading arrangements between Northern Ireland and the EU, Ms Truss said that countries would always have "differences that we need to resolve".

"But those types of differences between friends and allies are different from the scale and the sheer belligerence and aggression and lying of Russia," she said.

She added that, given the scale of their differences with Russia, it was vital that Western countries "stick together."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
UK Marks Ten Years of Night Tube as London Weekend Usage Exceeds Eighty-One Thousand Journeys a Night
Met Office Issues Thunderstorm Warnings Across Northern Ireland Over Flash-Flood Risk
Frasers Group Raises Stake in Hugo Boss to Nearly Forty-Eight Percent
Scottish Clyde Marine Pilots Prepare for Strike That Could Disrupt Glasgow and Greenock Shipping
Twenty Passengers Injured After Southern Train Derails Near Lewes in East Sussex
Government Rules Out High-Speed Rail Revival Between West Midlands and Northern England
West Midlands Bus Network Returns to Public Ownership in Twenty-Four Million Pound Deal
UK Competition Watchdog Targets Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Drip Pricing
Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt Resigns After Dispute Over Causeway Hospital Surgery Closure
UK Long-Term Government Bond Yields Rise to Five Point Eight Five Percent as Borrowing Costs Surge
UK Government Overhauls Planning Rules to Push Housing Development Near Major Transport Hubs
UK Health and Economic Pressures Highlight Wider Strain on Households and Public Finances
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Reaffirms Full Support for Ukraine Amid Russian Warnings
Sainsbury’s Suspends Live Facial Recognition at London Store After Customer Misidentified
Artists Urge UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Reject New North Sea Oil and Gas Licensing
UK Government Awards Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Pound Civil Service Training Contract to EY and KPMG
Global Government Bond Yields Rise as Middle East Conflict Fuels Inflation Concerns
British Housing Market Records Weakest August Since Two Thousand and Eighteen as Asking Prices Fall
UK Announces New Sanctions on Russian Shadow Fleet and Financial Institutions
UK Approves Virgin Rail Group Services Through Channel Tunnel, Challenging Eurostar
UK Government Backs Three Hundred Million Pound AI Investment Zone in North Lanarkshire
UK Declares National Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Imported Eggs
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
UK Government Rolls Out £5.8 Billion Regional Investment Programme to Revive High Streets
AstraZeneca Ends Late-Stage Lung Cancer Trial After Data Shows No Survival Benefit
London Stocks Fall for Sixth Day as Bond Yields and Middle East Tensions Weigh on Markets
UK Government Rewrites Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Hubs
UK Wildfires Spread Across Southern England as Met Office Issues Severe Heat Warnings
British Doctors Warn Cancer Care Is at Risk as Hospitals Reject More Than a Quarter of Urgent Referrals
UK Hospitals Suspend Critical Care as Extreme Heat Exposes Infrastructure Failures
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
UK Treasury Warns Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Cut 2027 Growth to 0.3 Percent
×