Ukraine crisis: Keir Starmer warns Britain to prepare for economic pain as he calls for 'hardest possible sanctions'

Sir Keir Starmer has warned the UK must brace itself for “economic pain” as he called for Russia to be hit with the “hardest possible sanctions”.

The Labour leader called for unprecedented measures against Russian president Vladimir Putin following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Making a television address, Sir Keir said he wanted to see Mr Putin regime’s “ability to function crippled”.

He said: “We must make a clean break with the failed approach to handling Putin, which after Georgia, Crimea and Donbas fed his belief that the benefits of aggression outweigh the cost.

“We must finally show him he is wrong.

“That means doing all we can to help Ukraine defend herself, urgently reinforcing and reassuring our Nato allies in eastern Europe and the hardest possible sanctions must be taken against the Putin regime.

“It must be isolated, its finances frozen, its ability to function crippled.

“And there are changes we must make here in the UK. For too long our country has been a safe-haven for the money that Putin and his fellow bandits gained by stealing from the Russian people. It must end now.”

Sir Keir claimed the nation must be braced for “economic pain” and “difficulties”.

He said: “We will see economic pain as we free Europe from dependence on Russian gas and clean our institutions from money stolen from the Russian people.

“But the British public have always been willing to make sacrifice to defend democracy on our continent and we will again.”

The Labour leader said Mr Putin’s “bandit rule” must fail.

He said: “This must be a turning point in our history. We must look back and say that this terrible day was actually when Putin doomed himself to defeat.

“He seeks division, so we must stay united. He hopes for inaction, so we must take a stand. He believes that we are too corrupted to do the right thing, so we must prove him wrong.”

It comes as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, outlined a number of economic sanctions his country wished to see put in place.

He called on allies to stop buying Russian oil and gas, to ban foreign investment in Russia, to block the country from the Swift payment system, and disconnect Russia from Visa and Mastercard systems.