UK's Truss says stepping up preparation for worst case scenario in Ukraine

British foreign minister Liz Truss said on Monday she was stepping up preparations with allies for the worst case scenario in the Ukraine crisis, adding that a Russian invasion was highly likely.

“Diplomacy must be pursued but a Russian invasion of Ukraine looks highly likely. The UK and allies are stepping up preparations for the worst case scenario,” Liz Truss said on Twitter following talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.

“We must make the cost for Russia intolerably high.”

The United Kingdom and our allies stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. Any invasion will be met with severe costs for Russia 👇 pic.twitter.com/GMxQ7ecypl

— Liz Truss (@trussliz) February 20, 2022

‘Border Breach’

Russia’s military said on Monday that troops and border guards had prevented a “diversionary reconnaissance” group from breaching Russia’s border from Ukrainian territory and that five people had been killed, Russian news agencies reported.

Ukraine rejected the report, calling it fake news, and said no Ukrainian forces were present in the Rostov region where the incident was alleged to have taken place.

Interfax cited the Russian military as saying that Ukrainian armed vehicles had been destroyed.