Ukraine-Russia tensions: UK vows to step up support - BBC News
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the UK will spend more on democracy and energy projects in Ukraine.
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Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the UK is increasing its financial support for Ukraine, amid tensions with Russia.

Speaking in Kyiv, Ms Truss said the UK would be spending an additional £12m on democracy and energy independence projects in the country.

Western allies have warned Russia could try to stage an attack to justify invading Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly denied it has plans to invade despite amassing more than 100,000 troops along the border.

As part of ongoing diplomatic efforts, Ms Truss visited the Ukrainian capital, holding a press conference alongside the country's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

She praised the country's "fortitude in the face of Russian aggression" and pledged UK's "steadfast support".

Mr Kuleba said Ukrainian-British relationships had "reached an unprecedentedly high level".

In addition to increasing funding for Ukraine's defence capabilities from £88m to £100m, Ms Truss also announced a new "trilateral partnership" with Ukraine and Poland to "intensify work on defence and security, sanctions, energy security and countering disinformation".

The foreign secretary also warned that "false-flag" operations were taking place in the region adding: "We are very clear the aggressor in this situation is Russia."

A false-flag attack is where one side stages or fabricates an attack against it in order to justify the use of force in retaliation.

Earlier in the day, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia could be "trying to stage a pretext for an armed attack against Ukraine".

Russia has accused the West of "hysteria" over such warnings in recent weeks.

It has also called on Nato to guarantee Ukraine will not be allowed to join the defence alliance.

Nato insists it will keep its open door policy, and has been increasingly concerned an invasion is on the cards.

Mr Stoltenberg, said there were "signs from Moscow that diplomacy could continue", but that the West had "not seen any sign of withdrawal or de-escalation".

Speaking from an RAF base in Waddington, Lincolnshire, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was "still time to avoid a catastrophe" but said the picture from the region was "very grim".

He added that a Russian invasion would result in a "bloody and protracted conflict in which, I'm afraid, there will be many casualties and including many Russian casualties"

In a speech following the press conference in Kyiv, Ms Truss, who became foreign secretary last year, said the current crisis in the region was a "litmus test" for the West.

"The free world needs to draw the line under a decade of drift... we must stand up to and defuse Russian aggression now, because if we don't it will embolden not only the Kremlin, but aggressors, authoritarians and autocrats everywhere.

"The West needs to wise up. We need to work together to discredit their arguments in public."

Ms Truss is now travelling to Poland for a meeting with her Polish counterpart, before heading to the Munich Security Conference on Saturday for meetings with allies.

The UK has no troops in Ukraine but it has increased numbers in Estonia to the "high hundreds," according to the Ministry of Defence, as well as sending additional helicopters, jets and warships to the region.

A further 1,000 British troops are also on standby to support Nato if called upon.