Jeremy Hunt calls for US and EU to respond to Russia's 'malign behaviour'

The European Union should stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with America by imposing sanctions on Russia in the wake of Salisbury spy poisoning, the Foreign Secretary will say on Tuesday.

Delivering a speech in Washington, Mr Hunt is expected to say Russia’s “aggressive and malign behaviour undermines the international order”.

It comes as a new round of US sanctions on Russia comes into force on Wednesday.

The US already has a more wide-ranging number of sanctions in place against Russia than the UK, including travel bans and asset freezes for hundreds of Russian oligarchs and companies.

They include the billionaire Oleg Deripaska and his company En+, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

"Of course we must engage with Moscow, but we must also be blunt: Russia’s foreign policy under President Putin has made the world a more dangerous place,” Mr Hunt will say in his speech at US Institute of Peace.

“And today the United Kingdom asks its allies to go further by calling on the European Union to ensure its sanctions against Russia are comprehensive, and that we truly stand shoulder to shoulder with the US.”

At present, the UK cannot unilaterally enforce sanctions while it is bound by law to the EU’s sanctions regime.

Responding to Mr Hunt’s words, anti-corruption campaign groups said the UK could still do more to curb dirty money.

Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International UK, said: “The UK needs to act against those who break the rule of law and ignore international standards. They use the UK as their playground and London property as a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.

“It is time to stop letting cronies of the world's corrupt autocrats launder their money and reputations through the UK and its overseas territories and Crown dependencies. It is within the power of the Government to stop this: it should act.”

Bob Seely, the Tory MP who sits on the foreign affairs committee, said: “We need to be much more robust over cash from Putin cronies coming through the UK and work with the US administration on a shared list of sanctioned individuals.“

This month, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against Russia over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

The sanctions will limit exports to Russia and financing of the deals with the country, potentially cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in future exports to Russia.

A second, more painful round of sanctions would be introduced three months later unless Russia provides "reliable assurances" that it won't use chemical weapons in the future and agrees to "on-site inspections" by the UN — conditions unlikely to be met.

This could include downgrading diplomatic relations, suspending state airline Aeroflot's ability to fly to the US, and cutting off nearly all exports and imports.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has accused Britain of making baseless accusations over the Salisbury poisonings.

Mr Deripaska denies “the alleged basis” of US sanctions against him.

The fallout of the Novichok poisoning continued months after the attempted murder of the Skripals. 

In June, Charlie Rowley and girlfriend Dawn Sturgess were struck down by the nerve agent in Amesbury. Ms Sturgess died from the exposure while Mr Rowley spent 20 days in hospital.

On Monday, his brother said he had been readmitted to hospital suffering with vision problems.

“He’s just told me now he can’t see, he has blurred vision," Matthew Rowley told the Guardian. "It’s not too good. He’s been knocked sideways. His girlfriend has died, he’s just got out of a coma. He’s been released from an intensive care unit and all of a sudden he’s back in an IC unit. Can you imagine how you would feel? I can’t, it’s unbelievable."

In addition to speaking about Russia, Mr Hunt will also repeat his warnings over a no-deal Brexit.

“One of the biggest threats to European unity would be a chaotic no-deal Brexit,” he is expected to say.

While in Washington, Mr Hunt will meet Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, as well as other members of Donald Trump’s administration.