Ukraine: Truss to call on international community to step up support

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is to seek agreement from the international community to step up support for Ukraine in the face of continuing attacks from Russian forces.

Ms Truss is due in Brussels on Friday for meetings with foreign ministers from Nato, the G7 and EU.

She is expected to press for support to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank to try to deter Russian aggression.

Europe's dependency on Russian oil and gas is also likely to be discussed.

The foreign secretary is expected to call on her counterparts to "embrace reliable partners rather than be dependant and beholden on any one country" for oil or gas.

Ahead of her trip, Ms Truss said she and her counterparts would work to "tighten the vice around Putin's war machine".

At talks with the G7 foreign ministers, she is expected to insist that co-operation between the UK and EU is "essential to defend European security".

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted the war was "going to plan", despite taking only one major city - Kherson in the south.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked Mr Putin for one-to-one talks, saying it is the only way to end the war. He has also appealed to Nato to supply warplanes.

The UK has been supplying Ukraine with weapons, including 2,000 anti-tank weapons, and has sent troops to the Nato military force in Estonia.

Aid agencies say the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict urgently need food, water, shelter and medical care.

On Thursday, Ms Truss visited Lithuania to show support to Nato allies. There, she said Russia's economy must be "crippled" to stop it from funding Mr Putin's war and all Russian banks should be banned from using Swift, an international payment system.

She also said there was "nowhere for any of Putin's cronies to hide". Shortly after, the Foreign Office announced sanctions on two more Russian oligarchs - Alisher Usmanov, a billionaire whose company had links with Arsenal football club - and Igor Shuvalov, a former deputy prime minister to Mr Putin.

Their assets will be frozen and they will be banned from travelling to the UK. British citizens and businesses will not be allowed to deal with them.

The UK has been accused of being slower than its European neighbours and facing legal hold-ups preventing sanctions on Russian oligarchs - claims rejected by Downing Street.