UK's PM Boris Johnson demands Western unity against Russia

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used a speech in Germany Saturday to demand Western "unity" over Russia's threats to Ukraine, warning any invasion would send a "shock" around the world including in Asia.

Russian military action against Ukraine would trigger sanctions that would make it "impossible" for Moscow to access the City of London's deep capital markets, he also said at the Munich Security Conference.

"We must be united against that threat because we should be in no doubt what is at stake here," Johnson told leaders and ministers gathered for the high-profile conference, which Russia is boycotting.


"If Ukraine is invaded, the shock will echo around the world," he added, warning in particular of the impact on Taiwan, shortly after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi addressed the conference.

Russian success in such an invasion would send the message to every other power that "aggression pays and that might is right", he said, urging Europe to commit to "strategic endurance" in its energy policy, diplomacy and military budgets.