Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said the Russian invasion must not put a “freeze” on the UK Government’s action to resolve the trade disruption resulting from the implementation of post-Brexit rules governing Northern Ireland.

He added that he hoped to meet Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, early next week to discuss the matter and said: “The protocol remains a problem, and it needs to be addressed.”

On a visit to Belfast, Mr Baker told a local Conservative association that the protocol was “unfinished business” between the UK and the EU. He said it had divided communities and “destroyed political confidence, ended power-sharing and caused trade diversion”.

He said: “We must now save the Belfast Agreement and restore power-sharing by doing what is necessary to bring Northern Ireland back into the UK single market. That means using the Article 16 safeguards immediately, before the Stormont elections.

“Any suggestion that devolved ‘purdah’ prevents our national government from doing what is in the interests of the whole country is risible. Any suggestion that Putin has vetoed action to restore our constitutional settlement is outrageous. Brexiteers, rightly, would be shamed into silence if we attempted this ludicrous argument in reverse.”

Mr Baker urged Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, to “act now to keep promises made to Northern Irish and Conservative MPs”.

Earlier this week, a Number 10 official said triggering Article 16 before the Northern Ireland Assembly elections had not been ruled out, but conceded that it was not an easy option. “If necessary, we would do it in purdah if the situation requires – it’s not ideal, but could still happen,” the official said.