Dominic Raab says he is confident Vladimir Putin could eventually be brought to justice for war crimes after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Britain's deputy PM and Justice minister also insisted the UK would not hesitate to arrest the Russian President and hand him over if he ever set foot on these shores.
The warrant relates to the Kremlin leader's involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine amid his barbaric invasion.
Since the beginning of the war in February last year, almost 14,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted, the country's presidential advisor for children's rights, Daria Herasymchuk, reported last month.
The ICC said in a statement that Mr Putin bore individual criminal responsibility.
It also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, on similar allegations.
During an interview on Sky News earlier today, Mr Raab called it an "historic moment" in the ongoing conflict.
He referred to the crimes of Mr Putin and Ms Herasymchuk as "appalling".
He said while the ICC operates independently it's important the international community support its aims and gives them "the tools to do the job".
Mr Raab said drumming up further support is the purpose for the conference he is hosting on Monday in London with his Dutch counterpart Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius which will see 40 countries in attendance, so the ICC "can see this through".
The Minister was asked if he could see Mr Putin in court one day and possibly in prison, answering that it will likely be a "long journey".
"But people said that about Yugoslavia and Rwanda and many of those people responsible for the carnage ended up in the dock of a court," he continued.
"I think in the short term it will be very hard for President Putin to move around in the world because there will be so many countries who are party to the ICC who are duty bound to arrest him.
"But what’s really important right now is that those members of the international community who have supported the ICC step up to the plate, make sure they’ve got the forensic support, the technical support, support with the investigations, what with witnesses, and that’s what we’ll be doing in London with the Dutch and all of our colleagues and partners from around the world."
Asked if he expected Mr Putin to change his behaviour as a result of the warrant, Mr Raab said: "I would expect rhetoric, brinkmanship, but at the end of the day we’ve seen it all before with other violent despots and dictators, and in the end a large number of them cannot sit out the indictment from an international court for the worst crimes against humanity."
In reference to whether the UK would hesitate in arresting Mr Putin if the chance arose, he went on to say: "All state parties in the International Criminal Court are duty-bound to co-operate in executing indictments and the UK’s no different."
In terms of time frames, Mr Raab said he couldn't be sure.
He said: "The ICC is a court but it doesn’t have the usual mechanisms like a police force to go out and arrest people that you would expect in a domestic justice system.
"So it may take some time but the marker is laid down."
Referring to other despots in similar circumstances, he said: "As we’ve seen in the past…actually they cannot see out these indictments once they’ve been issued."
