RUSSIA’S economy must be drained to stop bloodthirsty Vladimir Putin invading other countries, an ex-defence minister has warned.

Sir Liam Fox argued seizing Moscow’s assets in Europe and allowing oligarchs to invest in the continent would help paralyse the tyrant’s war fund.

The former trade secretary insisted there is no other way to deal with “FSB thug” Putin – who is hellbent on recreating the Soviet Union “by all means”.

He told The Sun: “I don’t think there is a military solution to what’s happening in Ukraine. But I think there is a solution in the longer term.”

Sir Fox, who served as the UK’s defence minister under ex-PM David Cameron, said Putin has “absolutely crippled” his nation’s economy – which could present an ideal opportunity.

The Kremlin’s bloated military spending after more than three years of bloodshed in Ukraine has left Russia “on the brink” of recession, its economy minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas revealed this month how Russia is spending more on defence than the EU’s 27 nations combined.

“That comes, however, at a cost in the medium to long term,” Sir Fox said.

“First of all, it’s much easier to transform an economy from a peace economy into a war economy than vice versa. It requires a great deal of money.”

It comes as a Ukrainian government source this week warned The Sun that Putin could be plotting to exploit the crisis in the Middle East to launch an attack on Nato.

Sir Fox and fellow ex-defence chief Penny Mordant both called for more to be done to bolster the UK’s defences to diminish the threat posed by Vlad.

They warned Putin is the “number one threat” to Britain – and could jeopardise the UK’s security with sabotage attacks.

Ms Mordaunt, who was defence secretary during Theresa May’s premiership, urged the UK to turn up the heat on the tyrant.

She told The Sun: “You need to be wide-eyed about what Putin is trying to achieve.

“But you also need to put pressure on him. It’s his war. It’s always been his war to end.

“I applaud what the president [Trump] has been doing to try and bring the conditions for it to come to an end about.

“But we need to apply that pressure.”

Former treasury commissioner Sir Fox said the only way to stop the warmongering dictator from unleashing his forces on other nations is to let Russia’s economy bleed.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago triggered a slew of sanctions from the West – and near-total departure of Western companies from the sprawling nation.

‘UK must bolster defence or pay will blood of its people’, Penny Mordaunt warns

by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)

BRITAIN will pay with the blood of its people if more money isn’t spent to bolster the UK’s defence, Penny Mordaunt has warned.

The ex-defence secretary has urged the government to “wake up” and fund the UK’s security properly before it’s too late.

Former Navy reservist Mordaunt argued that Britain is “emboldening our enemies” if we fail to invest in other forms of deterrence.

She warned the consequences with be “incalculably grave” if the government does not open up the treasury purse.

Ms Mordaunt told The Sun: “I’m confident that if you prepare for war, you invest in it, you train for it, then conflicts don’t start.

“Because your foes know it is not worth them doing that. They’re going to lose.

“The consequences of retaliation against them are too great.”

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Sir Fox said: “We didn’t win the Cold War because we had more or better weapons than the Russians.

“It’s because we had bigger and stronger economies and could outspend them. And this is what we need to do now.

“We need to ensure that the Russian economy pays the price for Putin’s policies. Sadly, that means the Russian people, ultimately.

“But our job is to make sure that that war economy is weakened and that we diminish his ability to wage war elsewhere. So we need to ensure that Russia doesn’t have the money.”

Sir Fox believes this would be best achieved by reversing the policy stopping Russian oligarchs from investing in Europe.

This, he said, will draw more money out of Russia.

“I think we should also seize Russian assets in Europe,” the former doctor added.

“The Russian assets sitting in Europe are more than the combined money that Europe and America have given to Ukraine so far.

“And I think that it’s perfectly reasonable that Russia pays the price for its war making. And you can view it as reparations for Ukraine.

“So the principle is there. And I think in the long term we need to try to make sure that Russia is not able to afford to be able to wage war.

“It’s quite clear that Putin can’t be accommodated.

“There is no way to deal with an FSB thug who is a hardline ideologue who hates the West and wants to recreate the Soviet Union by all means including violence.”

It comes after a top Ukrainian government source warned Putin could hit Europe with a never-seen-before-attack.

The insider said the tyrant could exploit the crisis in the Middle East while the West’s eyes are turned to the embattled region.

Cunning Vlad may even attempt to mimic Ukraine’s elaborate Spiderweb operation that blitzed strategic targets inside Russia.

The source told The Sun: “The West should be prepared that the Spiderweb operation may be reconfigured and deployed by Russia as a hybrid attack on any Nato Eastern flank nation.

“That would be the major Article 5 test that the Alliance has not experienced yet.”