Boris Johnson is landing back in Britain empty-handed this morning after his oil begging trip to the Gulf flopped – and Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West.
Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine has fuelled price hikes with a litre of unleaded now more than £1.60, piling misery on British families already struggling with household bills.
Record-breaking petrol prices continue to hammer motorists at the pumps.
Figures from the RAC show that over 24 hours, unleaded rose by a penny to 164.98p a litre and diesel by more than 2p to 176p.
It means petrol has now soared by 13p since the start of the month and diesel by nearly 21p - the fastest rises on record.
The Prime Minister hoped to persuade oil-rich Saudi Arabia to open the taps and supply millions of extra barrels a day.
He held an hour and 45 minutes of talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But, with the PM’s RAF Voyager plane expected to touch down this morning after his dash for crude oil, there was little sign of a breakthrough.
Speaking in capital Riyadh before taking off, Mr Johnson said they “talked about what we can do to stabilise oil prices, to fight inflation, to help consumers, to help people at the gas pumps, at the petrol pumps”.
He claimed there was a “lot of agreement that it’s important to avoid inflation, to avoid the damaging economic consequences”.
But, asked if the Kingdom’s leader had taken a decision to boost supply, he said: “I think you need to talk to the Saudis about that.
“But there was an understanding of the need to ensure stability in global oil markets and gas markets, and the need to avoid damaging price spikes.”
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly could not point to a breakthrough, instead saying he "really hoped" there'd be one.
“We’ll have to see what production levels come out of the Middle East," he told Sky News. “I really hope that production will step up to alleviate some of the pressure we’ve been seeing.”
Critics blasted Mr Johnson for asking the Saudi ruler for help.
The PM became one of the few world leaders to shake hands with the royal since he was alleged to have ordered the assassination of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at Saudi’s consulate in Istanbul, which the ruler denies.
Putin was pictured high-fiving the prince at a G20 summit later that year.
Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who chairs Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, called on the Government to ensure that “in seeking to lessen our dependence upon one source of oil and gas, we do not end up creating a source dependency on another unreliable and sometimes hostile regime”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator is not an energy strategy”.
In Moscow, gloating dictator Putin lashed out at the West and oligarchs in a chilling televised speech.
Addressing government ministers on the war’s 21st day, Putin lashed out at the West, saying: “The collective West wants to divide our society... to provoke civil confrontation in Russia and to use its fifth column to strive to achieve its aim, and there is one aim - the destruction of Russia.”
“Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, and just to spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths.”
He also warned the West faced rising energy costs and its problems would only increase.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged more support for Ukraine tonight.
Speaking after an emergency meeting of alliance defence ministers at its Brussels headquarters, he said they agreed “we must continue providing significant military support to Ukraine, including with military supplies, financial help and humanitarian aid”.
Mr Stoltenberg announced the coalition would bolster defences on its eastern flank after Russia’s invasion.
He said: “We face a new reality for our security so we must reset our collective defence and deterrence for the longer term.
“On land our new posture should include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the alliance at higher readiness with more prepositioned equipment and supplies.
“In the air, more allied air power and strengthened, integrated, air and missile defence.
“At sea, carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat ships on (a) persistent basis.”
Forces will also train an exercise together “more often and in greater numbers”, he said.
Leaders from NATO’s 30 member countries, including US President Joe Biden and PM Boris Johnson, will hold a crisis summit next Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the alliance’s door is closed to his country.
Putin justified his invasion by saying he wanted guarantees Kyiv would never join NATO.
Mr Zelensky admitted: “Of course, Ukraine is not a member of NATO.
“For years we have been hearing about the alleged open door, but we have also heard now that we cannot enter.
“This is true, and it must be acknowledged.”
In the Commons, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said whether Ukraine joined NATO should remain a decision for Ukrainians.
He told MPs: “They have asked for membership of NATO for a significant period and NATO has chosen not to give it to them.
“My concern now is no matter what they decide, it remains their absolute right as a free nation and a free people to make such an application in the future.”
Speaking in Abu Dhabi before jetting to Riyadh, PM Mr Johnson said there was “no way Ukraine is going to join NATO anytime soon”.
But he stressed the decision was for Ukraine’s leaders, adding: “I talked to Volodymyr again today and of course I understand what he is saying about NATO and the reality of the position, and everybody has always said - and we’ve made it clear to Putin - that there is no way Ukraine is going to join NATO anytime soon.
“But the decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people, and Volodymyr Zelensky is their elected leader and we will back him.”
Today it emerged that Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the EU because his cash was allegedly used by Russia’s war machine.
The Chelsea owner was said to enjoy “privileged access” to Vladimir Putin.
His “very good relations” lined his own pockets in industries that offered “a substantial source of revenue” to the Kremlin.
Portugal will implement all EU sanctions against Abramovich but is not able to ban him from entering the country because he is a citizen, Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said.
European companies will be banned from most new investments in the Russian energy sector.
European credit rating agencies will also be prevented from rating Russian companies and the country’s sovereign debt. “These sanctions will further contribute to ramping up economic pressure on the Kremlin and cripple its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine,” the European Commission said.
The restrictions have been coordinated with allies, notably the US. German finance minister Christian Lindner said the bloc was working on closing any loopholes for oligarchs to circumvent the sanctions regime. “No one who supports Putin is untouchable,” he said.
A host of potential buyers for Chelsea emerged today, including Ghanaian gold magnate Bernard Antwi Boasiako.
The United Nation today issued a desperate appeal for the “forgotten war” in Yemen to stop millions of people starving to death.
At a special conference in Geneva it urged wealthy countries to pay more money to provide food for more than 19 million people, saying £3 billion is needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
The figures are staggering. More than 19 million people need food - 7.3m of them need it urgently.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said: “As of now, funding is drying up and agencies are stopping their work in Yemen.”
