LONDON - Britain could block Russian companies from raising capital in London and expose property and company ownership in London and elsewhere if Russia invades Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.
Britain, the United States, the European Union and other allies have warned they would impose heavy economic sanctions on Russia the moment any invasion occurred.
Russia says it has no plans to invade and that some military units were returning to their bases.
Last week Britain put in place new legislation enabling it to impose broader sanctions than it previously could on Russian individuals and entities determined to be destabilising Ukraine or supporting the Russian government.
"What we're doing is targeting particular Russian banks, Russian companies, and making sure that we take steps, or take even more steps, to unpeel the facade of Russian property holdings whether in this city or elsewhere ... unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies," Johnson told reporters.
"And also take steps to stop Russian companies from raising capital on London financial markets. So that is a very, very tough package."
Johnson also said that while he saw some signs of a diplomatic opening with Russia over Ukraine, the latest intelligence on what was happening on the ground was still not encouraging.