In an exclusive interview, Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, has told GB News that Putin will play "silly billies with the gas price" if western powers impose sanctions on Russia in the wake of an invasion of Ukraine.
Asked whether British energy prices were on the line as Russia threatens to invade Ukraine, Mr Ellwood responded: "I would say so, yes.
Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, has told GB News British energy bills are on the line if Russia invades Ukraine.
Yui Mok
"...there will then be retaliatory sanctions against Russia [if it invades Ukraine] and then Russia will respond by playing silly billies with the gas price [and] with the amount of gas... coming on the Nord Stream pipelines.
"People are concerned rightly with the cost of living, but our cost of living will be affected if our international trade is then interrupted."
The energy price cap is due to be reviewed by Ofgem in February and could increase by as much as fifty per cent according to industry experts.
Russian aggression in Ukraine could apply even greater energy pressure on UK households, according to the Defence Select Committee chair.
Snipers of the Russian armed forces take part in military exercises at the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov region, Russia.
SERGEY PIVOVAROV
This comes as approximately 100,000 Russian troops are stationed on the border with Ukraine.
In Geneva, talks between US officials, seeking to quell tensions, and Russian officials, seeking to halt expansion of the Nato alliance and guarantee Ukraine won't join the EU, stalled with both sides failing to garner significant concessions from each other.
Mr Ellwood contended that the failure of the talks moves a Russian invasion "a step closer."
The Bournemouth East MP conceded that political leaders are "not making the case to explain why this [a potential invasion] is important [to Britons].
Russian armoured vehicles during combat exercises at the Kadamovsky range in the southern Rostov region, Russia.
SERGEY PIVOVAROV
"It has a huge geopolitical consequences for security. It’s not just this, place it next to [the threat of] China and extremism and so on.
"Our world is getting more dangerous, not less."
Mr Ellwood went on: "I think we need to be bolder, we’ve become too risk averse from that perspective and that’s very sad.
"I think we need to be better at standing up for what we believe, for what we’re willing to defend and what we’ve long fought for - for those freedoms.
"...Russia is taking advantage of our weakness."
Mr Ellwood also said: "We need to be clever about what we do here.
"To make sure we stand up to, you know, a dictator who is calling the shots at the moment."
