World News: Britain warns Russia of sanctions on oligarchs if Ukraine is invaded – Gulf Digital News

World News: Britain warns Russia of sanctions on oligarchs if Ukraine is invaded – Gulf Digital News

LONDON/MOSCOW: Britain urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to "step back from the brink" over Ukraine, warning that any incursion would trigger sanctions against companies and people with close links to the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the threat of such measures, echoing moves outlined by a senior U.S. official following a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, would amount to an attack on Russian businesses.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the British warning "very disturbing", and said such statements undermined Britain's investment attractiveness and would backfire by hurting British companies.

"It's not often you see or hear such direct threats to attack business," Peskov said. "An attack by a given country on Russian business implies retaliatory measures, and these measures will be formulated based on our interests if necessary."

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, London has become the pre-eminent global centre for a vast outflow of money from former Soviet republics.

Opponents of Putin have repeatedly called on the West to get tough How Western economic sanctions might target Russia on Russian money, though oligarchs and Russian officials continue to flaunt their wealth at Europe's most luxurious destinations.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to travel to Ukraine