White House official says ‘This is the beginning of an invasion’
A senior White House official said on Tuesday that Russia’s decision to send troops to two breakaway regions in Ukraine represented “an invasion” of the country and indicated “significant sanctions” against Moscow would be forthcoming.
The comments came hours after Russia started moving troops into the Donbas region of Ukraine.
“We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,” US principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said in an interview on CNN, referring to Russian troops moving into the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic — controlled by Russia-backed forces.
U.S. officials denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize two breakaway “republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent and send Russian troops for “peace keeping” operations in the regions.
U.S. President Joe Biden will soon announce “significant” new sanctions on Russia in Ukraine crisis address. The Biden administration repeatedly vowed that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would trigger a “massive” package of sanctions on Moscow.
The European Union is also close to agreeing sanctions on Russia that would put politicians and officials on blacklists, ban trading in Russian state bonds, and target imports and exports with separatist entities.
Russia’s formal recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, is “illegal and unacceptable,” European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Germany has announced to halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Reacting strongly towards the German move, Russia’s deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said: “Welcome to a new world where Europeans will soon be paying 2000 euros per cubic meter of gas.”
