Regular readers of this column will perhaps be a little surprised to see that this week my focus has turned to foreign policy.

Generally speaking, I try to concentrate on the issues that are most relevant to people in York. Normally these are national or local in nature, such as how we respond to the Covid pandemic or how we fund public services. Every so often however there comes along a foreign policy issue that is not just relevant to us here in the UK, but should demand our full attention.

The experience of the last two decades has left the public rightly wary of overseas military entanglements and sceptical about the UK’s ability to police global conflicts. We must be careful to  learn the lessons of the past and remain realistic about the limits of what can be achieved.

It is equally important however to not be paralysed by this caution.

Like it or not, we are the fifth largest economy in the world and one of only five permanent members of the UN Security Council. With this privileged position comes responsibilities. The first of which is the responsibility we have to the defence of our NATO allies and the wider European continent.

At crucial moments we have shown that we retain the ability to act decisively and successfully in defence of our core security interests. In 2015 I did not hesitate in supporting the then Prime Minister David Cameron in sanctioning airstrikes when Daesh were on the cusp of establishing a khalifate in Iraq and Syria. This was the correct decision and both the region and the UK are now more secure for defeating Daesh.  

At the time of writing, Russian forces surround Ukraine on three sides and there is little evidence that the Kremlin is following through on a promised de-escalation.

Western governments know how much is at stake and that is why we are seeing a flurry of official visits to both Kyiv and Moscow in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution.

Our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan and tame response to the 2014 annexation of Crimea has left Russia emboldened, so emboldened that they are now contemplating the previously unthinkable, a full scale invasion of a sovereign European country.

If such a move were to succeed or go unpunished by the West, it would strike right at the heart of the rules based international system that has guaranteed relative global stability since 1945.

If Russia can invade Ukraine without consequence, why should China not invade Taiwan or indeed why should any two countries with territorial disputes not settle them through military means?

There is of course no appetite in the West for a military response to any Russian invasion. If this is to be our position though we must be prepared to back up our promised support for Ukraine using any other means necessary.

The Government has already asked Parliament for sweeping new powers to impose further sanctions on anyone with money in the UK who is involved with or obtains a benefit from the Russian government, broadly defined to include most sectors of the Russian economy.

We have also delivered valuable military equipment, including anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.

There is more that can be done, however. We need a systematic and coordinated approach to identifying and freezing assets linked to the Russian state, and we need to restrict Russia’s access to state funding through the international debt markets and urgently explore alternative gas supplies to reduce the reliance of continental Europe on Russian imports.

I think that the UK Government has already shown leadership in the face of this crisis but as my colleague Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee, has cautioned we must be careful to not fall into the trap of ‘photo-op diplomacy.’

Strong words and high profile visits are all very well and good, but the threat that we face is real and serious and it must be met with real consequences.

Russia may be geographically vast and militarily strong, but its economy is about half the size of our own. Provided that we cooperate effectively, the West still has the power to hit Russia where it hurts. For the sake of the people of Ukraine and future global stability we must learn how to do this soon.

Julian Sturdy is the Conservative MP for York Outer