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Britain not ruling out personal sanctions targeted at Putin if Russia invades Ukraine

Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky walks past a map showing Russia and Ukraine as he arrives at his news conference venue in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Expand
In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP) Expand
Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko Expand

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Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky walks past a map showing Russia and Ukraine as he arrives at his news conference venue in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky walks past a map showing Russia and Ukraine as he arrives at his news conference venue in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP)

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

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Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky walks past a map showing Russia and Ukraine as he arrives at his news conference venue in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Guy Faulconbridge and Alistair Smout

Britain is not ruling out sanctions targeted at Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in person if Russia invades Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would consider personal sanctions on Putin if Russia invades Ukraine, as Western leaders stepped up military preparations and made plans to shield Europe from a potential energy supply shock.

Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops around Ukraine and the West fears it may invade in an attempt to annex its former Soviet republic.

Asked about possible sanctions on Putin, Truss told Sky: "We're not ruling anything out."

"We'll be bringing forward new legislation to make our sanctions regime tougher so we are able to target more companies and individuals in Russia. We will be bringing that forward in the next few days. I'm not ruling that out."

Truss said the United Kingdom was supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine.

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Russia has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading Ukraine, that it can deploy troops wherever it wants on its own territory and that the West is gripped by Russophobia.

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP) Expand

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In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP)

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP)

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are processed through the 436th Aerial Port Squadron during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 21, 2022. (Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Meanwhile, a huge Russian gas vessel, designed to safeguard supplies to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, has returned to the Baltic Sea region, tracking data showed on Wednesday, amid tensions over Ukraine and concerns about gas supplies to Europe.

The Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Marshal Vasilevskiy - a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) which can also act as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel - visited the Belgian port Zeebrugge where it loaded 163,800 cubic metres of LNG on Jan. 20 and is now near Kaliningrad.

The ship's main role is to supply LNG to Kaliningrad, which is separated from Russia's mainland and sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

The ship ensures the enclave can receive gas even if there are disruptions to pipelines running through Lithuania.

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But the vessel, which President Vladimir Putin hailed as Russia's energy security boost, has been leased to several firms since starting operations in 2019, shipping cargoes to and from other markets, such as Singapore and the United States.

Gazprom, Russia's gas export pipeline monopoly which owns the ship, declined to comment on vessel's latest movement.

Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko Expand

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Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

Demonstrators scuffle with Ukrainian law enforcement officers during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses who demand government support, in front of the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

Russian energy supplies and its network of gas export pipelines have been in the spotlight as Moscow has amassed some 100,000 troops near Ukraine, which is forging closer ties with the West. The Kremlin opposes any possible move by Kyiv to join NATO.

Russia denies it plans to invade Ukraine, but the West has said it would impose tough sanctions on Moscow if it does.

The United States has been in talks with major energy-producing countries and companies around the world over a potential diversion of supplies to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine, senior Biden administration officials said on Tuesday.

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