Ukraine war: Portsmouth council leader says city is 'standing with Ukraine'

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson has ordered the Ukrainian flag to be flown by the council and said the city would be willing to offer any support it can to potential refugees.

‘I have asked us to fly the Ukrainian flag to make sure the people of Ukraine know that we stand with them against this illegal invasion,’ he said. ‘It’s likely there will large numbers of people who will be forced to leave the country and we will do our best to support any of them who need our help.’

His comments follow those made by Portsmouth North MP and former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt who said support was already being offered to Ukrainian families living in the city.

‘Putin’s actions are monstrous,’ she said. ‘We should remember that the West’s military superiority over Russia is absolute.

‘We should give Ukraine unlimited support to defend itself. It is in our own interests to do this.’

But Cllr Vernon-Jackson said the government response had been ‘pathetic and plagued by vacillation’.

‘We have a much greater ability than many other countries to influence the Russian government because London is flooded with dirty Russian money,' he said. 'If the government seized that and gave it to Ukraine there would be an awful lot of angry Russians telling Vladimir Putin to stop.’

He urged consideration of the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, similar to measures taken in Syria and Libya, to remove Russian air dominance over the country.

He said this could be partly enforced by the Portsmouth-based HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.

Earlier this afternoon, prime minister Boris Johnson said the UK and its allies will put forward a ‘massive’ package of sanctions which he said would ‘hobble’ the Russian economy.

Details of these are due to be announced by Mr Johnson in the House of Commons at 5pm.