Vladimir Putin must leave Ukraine and pay “proper recompense” for his invasion before he can ever return to the international fold, the Prime Minister has said. Liz Truss made the comment ahead of launching an update to the integrated review of defence and foreign policy to counteract the threat of authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China.
Ms Truss also doubled down on her campaign trail commitment to increase defence spending to 3% of UK GDP by the end of the decade. She was using her first foreign trip as Prime Minister to rally United Nations allies in New York to keep up the pressure on Russia.
Asked by reporters travelling with her if there was a way for Mr Putin to rejoin the international community, she said: “First Russia needs to leave Ukraine. And we need to make sure that there is proper recompense for what has happened in Ukraine and we need to make sure Russia is never again able to threaten countries on its border.”
