Russia is ready to invade Ukraine but the Kremlin could use an unconventional attack on its former Soviet neighbour which might require the West to make a swift judgement call on the imposition of Russian sanctions, a senior Western official said.
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Friday they planned to evacuate their breakaway region's residents to Russia, a stunning turn in a conflict the West believes Moscow could use to justify an invasion of Ukraine.
Britain has threatened to block Russian companies from raising capital in London and to expose property and company ownership if Russia invades Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government would target Russian banks and Russian companies.Western security sources have repeatedly cautioned that Russia could use so called hybrid warfare - attacks which exploit vulnerabilities often by forces which cannot be directly linked to the state.
"In that situation, the reality is that it would be more difficult to call exactly when a line had been crossed," the official said. "When we judge that Russia crossed a line on this... then we need to act quickly and at scale in terms of our sanctions response."
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