Washington (National Times)- US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced sanctions against Russian banks and the country\u2019s wealthy elite after what he said was Moscow\u2019s launching of an invasion against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,\u201d Biden said in a televised speech at the White House.<\/p>\n
Biden stressed that the measures were only a \u201cfirst tranche\u201d in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin \u201ccarving out a big chunk of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden said that more sanctions will follow if Putin extends Russia\u2019s military grip beyond two small territories in the eastern Donbas region that are already under control of Russian-backed separatists.<\/p>\n
Putin announced Monday that he has recognized the independence of both areas and said the Russian military would mount a so-called \u201cpeacekeeping\u201d mission in the territories.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s setting up a rationale to go much further,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
The first round of sanctions targeted Russia\u2019s sovereign debt, cutting \u201coff Russia\u2019s government from Western financing,\u201d Biden said. Also targeted are two banks and specific members of the Russian \u201celites,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Biden said the United States will continue to send \u201cdefensive\u201d weapons to Ukraine\u2019s military but underscored there was \u201cstill time\u201d for diplomacy and \u201cto avert the worst case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s tough approach followed an initially more hesitant US response to Putin\u2019s recognition of the two rebel-held enclaves in Ukraine on Monday.<\/p>\n
For weeks, the United States and its allies have said that a full invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces massing on its ex-Soviet neighbor\u2019s borders would trigger devastating economic sanctions.<\/p>\n
But with doubts continuing over Putin\u2019s ultimate intentions after a speech he delivered Monday, it took hours for the Biden administration to shift to a harsher tone.<\/p>\n
Biden announced limited sanctions against the two separatist enclaves, which already have next to no dealings with the United States. And in the first public comments from the administration after Putin\u2019s geopolitical bombshell, a US official said merely that \u201cwe are going to assess what Russia\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official stressed that Russian forces have already been deployed covertly in the separatist areas of Donbas for eight years. \u201cRussian troops moving into Donbas would not be a new step,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
Only later that evening, did the White House signal it was moving toward a tougher response.<\/p>\n
Putin\u2019s move has sparked intense phone diplomacy between Washington, European capitals and Ukraine, as the United States tries to maintain unity among dozens of partners over how to respond to Russia, which supplies much of the European Union\u2019s energy needs.<\/p>\n
Earlier Tuesday, the White House welcomed Germany\u2019s decision to halt the mammoth Nord Stream 2 pipeline project meant to deliver Russian natural gas to Europe. The pipeline was vital to Russia\u2019s commercial and geostrategic goals.<\/p>\n
Biden \u201cmade clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 does not move forward. We will be following up with our own measures today,\u201d Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted.<\/p>\n
After announcing he was stopping the near-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Russia \u201cthere are also other sanctions that we can introduce if further measures are taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, the deputy US national security advisor for international economics, Daleep Singh, warned that the full set of sanctions under preparation would turn Russia into an international \u201cpariah.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington (National Times)- US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced sanctions against Russian banks and the country\u2019s wealthy elite after what he said was Moscow\u2019s launching of an invasion against Ukraine. \u201cThis is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,\u201d Biden said in a televised speech at the White House. Biden stressed that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n