Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) says the UK's rhetoric on sanctions against Russia for Ukraine's invasion barely scratches the surface of what they want to and can do.

Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, Professor Kwesi Aning stated that his comment is due to the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, being diminished.

According to him, Mr Johnson has opened up his country [UK] to “Russian billionaires of very dubious heritage.”

He added that certain high positions have also been made available to people from Russia. He cited an example as “sitting on his top economic advisory book is the wife of the former Deputy Finance Minister of Mr Putin.”

Therefore the sanction to close Russian banks “hardly scratches the surface of what they seek to be doing and can do.”

CNN reports that Boris Johnson announced on Thursday to sanction 100 individuals and entities as part of additional sanctions against Russia to "exclude Russian banks from the UK financial system."

Following the sanctioning of five Russian banks on Tuesday, he added that the Russian state bank VTB will have its assets frozen. Russian state and private companies will also be barred from raising funds in the UK.

Additionally, according to Johnson, 100 individuals and entities' assets will be frozen, which added that this includes "all of the major manufacturers that support Putin's war machine."

He also announced that the United Kingdom will ban Russia's national carrier, Aeroflot, and apply sanctions to Belarus "for its role in the assault on Ukraine.”

Going forward, Britain is also hoping to bring in legislation "early next week" to ban the export of certain technologies to Russia, particularly "in sectors including electronics, telecommunications, and aerospace," according to Johnson.

Meanwhile, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed disappointment in the types of sanctions that have been imposed on Russian authorities.

According to him, the sanctions against Russia targeting assets of authorities in foreign countries and Visa bans is a “big joke”.

He said the current sanctions regime would not be enforced.

“Yesterday’s sanctions was a joke. That you’re going to freeze assets of Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, the Foreign Minister and Putin in Western nations. Where are they travelling to? The people are at war, commanding their troops, and you say that they would care about travelling. Instead, you’re imposing Visa bans, and you’re freezing their assets.”

He said that the only sanctions that would get Putin to pull the breaks on invading Ukraine would be sanctions that would hit Russia at its nerve centre, which is, imposing restrictions on oil and gas.

“So far, all the sanctions have convenient leap because Europe depends on Russia for about a quarter of its oil needs, about two-thirds of its gas needs. So, they leave out oil and gas.

“If we underestimate what is going on, clearly when you listen to Putin, this is just the beginning. He wants regime change. He doesn’t want to see Zelensky in charge of Ukraine,” he said.