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US President Barack Obama announced further sanctions against Russia on Tuesday (local time), describing President Vladimir Putin’s actions in eastern Ukraine as the “start of a Russian invasion.”
This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk independent and dispatched Russian soldiers to the area.
As he announced new sanctions against Russia from the White House, Biden referred to Putin’s actions as the “start of a Russian invasion” of Ukraine.
“”We are enforcing complete blocking restrictions against two significant Russian financial institutions: VEB and their military bank,” Biden stated, adding, “We are enforcing comprehensive sanctions against Russia’s sovereign debt.” As a result, Russia’s government is no longer able to receive funds from the West. It can no longer borrow money from the West, and its new debt cannot be traded on either American or European markets.”
“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin believe has the authority to create new so-called countries on his neighbours’ land?” From the Oval Office, Biden asserted himself.
Biden went on to say in his remarks: “Sanctions will also be imposed on Russia’s ruling class and their families. “We have worked with Germany to ensure that Nord Stream 2 will not… proceed forward,” he continued, “since they share in the fraudulent gains of Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well.””
Following Putin’s statement, Biden issued an Executive Order on Monday prohibiting all new investment, commerce, and finance by American citizens to, from, or in the “so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.”
Putin’s decision to recognise the “so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” as “independent” was harshly criticised by the United States.
At the United Nations, the US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield backed Ukraine’s request for a UN Security Council meeting immediately. She slammed Russia’s declaration, calling it “nothing more than theatre, perhaps meant to provide a pretext for a new invasion of Ukraine.”
Notably, after recognising the breakaway regions’ independence in his Monday address to the nation, Putin has authorised the deployment of Russian Armed Forces to the region.
Russia attacked and seized Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula, in March 2014. Pro-Russian separatists declared independence in the Donbas region in April. The conflict raged on in eastern Ukraine before spreading to the west. The fighting claimed the lives of over 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian, was elected President of Ukraine by a strong majority in April 2019 on a vow to return Donbas to Ukraine. In January 2021, when Zelensky pleaded with US President Biden to allow Ukraine to join NATO, the problem became even more acute. Russia began massing soldiers on Ukraine’s borders in the spring of 2021, claiming it was for training exercises.
Russia’s soldier deployment is in response to NATO’s persistent eastward expansion, according to Russian officials. It said that its actions are being taken to safeguard its own security interests.
