PM urges China to join in imposing sanctions on Russia

“They’re behaving like thugs and bullies,” Mr Morrison said about Russia.

“Tragically, the sheer force of that violence of a thug and bully is about to be impacted upon the people of Ukraine.”

Mr Morrison said the situation had now reached “the last stage before a full invasion” and Russia had now built to a “peak of military preparedness”.

He said it was “only a matter of time” before they walked away or followed through “and sadly the signs are that they will follow through”.

Australia would not be sending troops to Ukraine or its neighbours, he said.

“We’re able to assist in the broader efforts … but that doesn’t involve people being deployed in the region.”

Mr Morrison said the sanctions on individuals and entities would target “the perpetrators and beneficiaries of this violence”.

“We will be adding names to the list,” he said.

“And we’ll be ratcheting it up further to potentially other areas of economic activity.”

Mr Morrison would not explicitly name the individuals sanctioned by Australia, other than to say they are the same people blacklisted by the UK and US.