Russian invasion of Ukraine would be largest war in Europe since WWII says PM

Boris Johnson has said he wanted people to “understand the sheer cost in human life” that an incursion into Ukraine would bring, with casualties on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, as he continued to urged Moscow to engage in peace talks”.

The comments came during speech at the Munich Security Conference. In the same speech he warned the Kremlin of increased financial sanctions should Mr Putin order troops across the border.

He also told broadcasters that he believed Mr Putin’s invasion plan was “in motion” with the aggression in the Donbas region potentially a “prelude to bigger action”.

He told BBC News: “The plan that we’re seeing is for something that could be the biggest war in Europe since 1945 just in terms of sheer scale”.