President Biden announced new sanctions on Russia on Tuesday after its moves against Ukraine, saying the actions amounted to a “flagrant violation of international law.”
In imposing economic penalties on Russia, the United States joins European allies in responding to Russia’s deployment of troops into two pro-Russian separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. Biden called Russia’s actions “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Biden said a “first tranche” of U.S. sanctions against Russia would target two financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt and Russian elites and their family members. The Pentagon also announced that it was sending more fighter jets, attack helicopters and infantry to Eastern Europe.
Here’s what to know
- Russia’s upper house of parliament gave President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country, a move that further raised fears of a broader invasion.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was canceling his planned meeting with Russia’s foreign minister this week in Geneva, saying it makes no sense in light of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
- Putin called on Ukraine to forget joining NATO and to accept that Crimea belongs to Russia. Putin said Kyiv’s best path forward is military neutrality.
- In Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he would halt authorization of Nord Stream 2, the controversial natural gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, for the time being.
- Canada’s prime minister announced what he called a “first round” of economic sanctions against Russia.
- White House aides are reviewing how the United States could respond if Russia curtails exporting global oil products due to hostilities over Ukraine, potentially triggering a spike in gasoline prices.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS
Biden imposing sanctions on company building Nord Stream 2
President Biden said Wednesday he will move forward with sanctions against a company that is building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, as part of continued repercussions the U.S. is levying against Russia for its aggressions toward Ukraine.
In a statement, Biden said he had directed his administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers. He also explained why he was reversing his administration’s decision from last year, when he waived sanctions against the pipeline.
“These steps are another piece of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine,” Biden said. “As I have made clear, we will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate. Through his actions, President Putin has provided the world with an overwhelming incentive to move away from Russian gas and to other forms of energy.”
Biden thanked German chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose administration announced Tuesday that it would halt certification of the pipeline as part of the U.S. and its allies’ response to Russia.
Putin’s defiant actions demonstrate limits of relying on threat of economic pain
When Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech to the nation Monday night, setting the stage for a new Russian military intervention in neighboring Ukraine, he characterized sanctions as a weapon Western powers would use against Moscow no matter what.
“They have one goal: to restrain the development of Russia,” Putin said, arguing that the West will always find a new false pretext for sanctions. He then signed orders recognizing the independence of two separatist regions in Ukraine and sent Russian forces onto their territory for “peacekeeping” purposes — in what President Biden called the beginning of an invasion.
The defiant actions by the Russian leader demonstrated the limits of relying on the threat of economic pain to change behavior by a government such as Putin’s — a highly personalist regime that has weathered Western sanctions for eight years, elevated hard-liner members of the security services to its most influential positions and clamped down on domestic dissent.
U.N. secretary general steps up criticism of Russia over ‘violation’ of Ukraine’s sovereignty
U.N. leader António Guterres on Tuesday stepped up his criticism of Moscow’s recognition of two separatist-held enclaves as independent — calling it a “a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
“Our world is facing the biggest global peace and security crisis in recent years — certainly in my tenure as secretary-general,” said Guterres, who became secretary general in 2017. “We face a moment that I sincerely hoped would not come.”
Cutting short an overseas trip to return to the U.N. headquarters in New York, Guterres said Russia’s action constituted a “death blow” to the Minsk agreements — a peace accord signed in 2014 and 2015 designed to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed militants in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
“The principles of the UN Charter are not an a la carte menu,” Guterres said. “They cannot be applied selectively. Member states have accepted them all and they must apply them all.”
In a scathing response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Monday announcement — in which he ordered Russian forces into the breakaway territories for “peacekeeping” purposes — Guterres said he was “concerned about the perversion of the concept of peacekeeping.”
“When troops of one country enter the territory of another country without its consent, they are not impartial peacekeepers,” he told reporters “They are not peacekeepers at all.”
The secretary general also called for “an immediate cease-fire and the re-establishment of the rule of law.”
“We need restraint and reason,” he said. “We need de-escalation now. I urge all to refrain from actions and statements that would take this dangerous situation over the brink.”
Kenya’s U.N. ambassador sharply rebukes Putin in viral speech
In a late-night Monday speech before the U.N. Security Council, Kenya’s U.N. ambassador, Martin Kimani, drew parallels between Russian President Vladimir Putin’s acknowledgment of two territories within Ukraine’s borders as independent with Africa’s long history of colonialism.
“This situation echoes our history,” Kimani said. “Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris and Lisbon, with no regard for the ancient nations that they cleaved apart.”
Comparing the historical contexts, Kimani warned that fanning the “embers of dead empires” would never lead to peace. The ambassador also said Putin’s rejection of diplomacy in favor of military force had put the international norm of multilateralism “on its deathbed.”
“Rather than form nations that looked ever backward into history with a dangerous nostalgia, we chose to look forward to a greatness none of our many nations and peoples had ever known,” he said.
Given the usual comity between Moscow and the African Group at the United Nations — stemming from the Soviet Union presenting itself as a friend to the continent’s anti-colonial movements — Kimani’s powerful speech went down as one of the sharpest rebukes against Russia. The video of his remarks has elicited mountains of praise and thousands of views across social media.
“I’ve covered the UN since 2005,” Mark Leon Goldberg, editor of U.N. Dispatch, wrote on Twitter. “This is the single best speech I’ve ever seen delivered at the Security Council.”
“In a way no western country could do, this Kenyan statement basically demolishes Putin’s argument that Russia’s historical grievances justify its recent actions,” posted Tanvi Madan, director of the India Project at the Brookings Institution.
Canada unveils ‘first round’ of economic sanctions against Russia
TORONTO — Denouncing the “further invasion” of Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced what he called a “first round” of economic sanctions against Russia and the deployment of 460 additional troops to a NATO mission in Latvia.
Trudeau said Canadians will be banned from financial dealings with the “so-called independent states” of Donetsk and Luhansk and from buying Russian sovereign debt. Russian lawmakers who voted in favor of recognizing those states and two state-backed Russian banks will also be hit with sanctions.
“Russia’s flagrant disregard for the independence of a sovereign nation is a serious threat to security and stability in the region and around the world,” Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa. “Canada and our allies will defend democracy, and we are taking these actions today to stand against authoritarianism.”
The prime minister said the sanctions would remain in place “until the territorial integrity of Ukraine is restored.” In addition to the troops, Canada plans to deploy a frigate and a maritime patrol aircraft to a NATO mission in the region.
Trump celebrates Putin’s moves against Ukraine as ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’
Former president Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to recognize two breakaway regions of Ukraine and deploy troops into the rebel-held territory as “genius.”
In an interview with the conservative “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton” radio show, Trump said he was impressed by news of Putin’s actions.
“Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said. “So Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ ”
Trump said Putin will now “go in” to Ukraine “and be a peacekeeper.”
“That’s strongest peace force. … We could use that on our southern border,” he said. “That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy. … I know him very well. Very, very well.”
The former president then went on to say that Russia’s incursion “would have never happened” if he had been in office, and accused Biden of not having a proper response to Putin’s moves.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed Trump’s comments Tuesday evening.
“As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there,” Psaki said. “So there’s a bit of a different tactic. … And that’s probably why President Biden and not his predecessor was able to rally the world and the global community and taking steps against Russia’s aggression.”
Psaki says summit between Biden and Putin ‘not in the plans’
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that President Biden has no plans to participate in a summit with Putin, hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off a meeting with his Russian counterpart that was to be held later this week.
“Diplomacy can’t succeed unless Russia changes course,” Psaki said. “And as [Blinken] said, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to have a meeting with his counterpart at this point in time, Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov. And it was always intended that any engagement with President Putin would follow that. So at this point, that is certainly not in the plans.”
Biden had previously agreed “in principle” to meet with Putin. But Psaki said Tuesday that Russia would have to de-escalate its actions in Ukraine to put a meeting between Biden and Putin back on the table.
“De-escalation means moving troops,” Psaki said when asked to specify what actions the United States would need to see from Russia to host a meeting. “It means de-escalating from … the steps they continue to take on a daily basis.”
Psaki noted that the Blinken’s decision to call off the Geneva meeting with Lavrov did not signify an end to a diplomatic approach to the crisis.
Blinken cancels meeting with Russian foreign minister, saying Kremlin is not serious about diplomacy
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday canceled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov scheduled for later in the week, saying the Kremlin’s moves against Ukraine demonstrated that it is not “serious” about diplomacy.
“It does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time,” said Blinken during a news briefing at the State Department alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The top U.S. diplomat said the State Department would continue to try to avert “an even worse” situation, such as an “all-out assault of Ukraine,” including major cities and the capital of Kyiv. But Blinken said he would not meet Lavrov unless Moscow changes its “approach.”
The move signals a pivot for the Biden administration from seeking dialogue with the Kremlin to pursuing punitive measures for sending troops into eastern Ukraine’s separatist-controlled regions.
Ukraine’s foreign minister praised the sanctions the United States imposed on Russia on Tuesday but implored the West to put in place even more-punishing measures. “Hit Russia’s economy now, and hit it hard,” Kuleba said.
When asked whether Ukraine has verified that Russia has compiled a list of Ukrainians to kill or send to camps after an invasion, Kuleba said Ukraine didn’t have the list but said “I wouldn’t exclude that such a list can exist.”
Blinken’s decision to call off the meeting appeared likely after Tuesday’s cancellation of another appointment between Lavrov and the foreign minister of France, the European power that has worked the hardest to encourage dialogue between Russia and the West.
The meeting was set to take place in Geneva.
Ukrainian president calls up military reservists after Russian lawmakers give Putin authority to send troops
By David L. Stern5:25 p.m.
LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday night that he was calling up the country’s military reservists after Russian lawmakers voted to give President Vladimir Putin the authority to send troops into eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky emphasized that this was not a general mobilization and would affect only members of Ukraine’s “operational reserve.” He did not elaborate on how many reservists the call-up involved.
“We must increase the readiness of the Ukrainian army for all possible changes in the operational situation,” Zelensky said in a video posted on social media.
Zelensky said the Russian decision to deploy troops on Ukrainian territory “gave a clear answer” to the question of “who wants peace on earth, and who redistributes the land.”
Likewise, he criticized the Kremlin’s insistence that until now it has not been involved in Ukraine’s eight-year conflict with militants in its eastern Donbas region, despite evidence from Western intelligence agencies and independent experts that Moscow supplies and directs the separatists.
“’We’re not there’ has been replaced by an official ‘actually, we’re here,’ [which was] adopted at the highest level, unanimously,” Zelensky said, in reference to a vote Tuesday by Russian lawmakers.
Zelensky also announced a program of “economic patriotism” of tax breaks and other stimuli to boost the Ukrainian economy, which has suffered from the uncertainty brought on by the threat of a Russian invasion.
White House details sanctions against Russian banks, elites
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the White House detailed specific sanctions against Russian financial institutions and Russian elites with ties to the Kremlin as part of the Biden administration’s “first tranche” of sanctions triggered by Russia’s actions.
They included full blocking sanctions on two state-owned Russian financial institutions — Vnesheconombank and Promsvyazbank and their subsidiaries — that collectively hold more than $80 billion in assets and finance the Russian defense sector and economic development, the White House said.
Expanded prohibitions that restrict American individuals and firms from participating in secondary markets for new debt by various Russian entities will also deny Russia access to key U.S. markets and investors.
Five Russian elites and their family members will receive full blocking sanctions, including Aleksandr Bortnikov and his son, Denis; Sergei Kiriyenko and his son, Vladimir; and Promsvyazbank CEO Petr Fradkov.
“These individuals and their relatives directly benefit from their connections with the Kremlin. Other Russian elites and their family members are on notice that additional actions could be taken against them,” the White House said.
In addition, any institution in the financial services sector of the Russian economy will be a target for further sanctions to indicate “no Russian financial institution is safe from our measures, including the largest banks,” the White House said.
Dow sinks nearly 500 points as U.S., E.U. sanction Russia
The three major U.S. indexes dropped Tuesday as the escalating threat of war in Ukraine — and the beginning of economic sanctions from the United States and Europe — sent Wall Street reeling.
The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 482.57 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 33,596.61. The broader S&P 500 index dropped 1 percent, or 44.11 points, to land at 4,304.76. The tech-centric Nasdaq fell 1.2 percent, or 166.55 points, to settle at 13,381.52.
Oil prices also moved higher after Putin recognized the independence of two Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and ordered Russian forces onto their territories for “peacekeeping” purposes.
The geopolitical stressors add to the tangle of uncertainties that have made trading so volatile in 2022, according to Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. Though the Russia-Ukraine crisis has been brewing for months, investors had been more focused on the potential fallout from a shift to tighter monetary policy as central banks around the world work to tamp down ballooning inflation.
“Now the threat of war is very real, and investors will need to add it to their growing list of things to worry about,” Mould said Tuesday in comments emailed to The Washington Post. “This could prompt another bout of panic and lead to heightened market volatility.”
Biden administration promises more sanctions if Putin continues his moves into Ukraine
A senior Biden administration official shared additional details Tuesday about the first tranche of sanctions against Russia, saying they represent merely the beginning of the U.S. response, should Putin continue his moves into Ukraine.
“Russia’s long-previewed invasion of Ukraine has now begun, and our response has also begun,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share details of a rapidly unfolding crisis. “And let me be totally clear: No Russian financial institution is safe if this invasion proceeds.”
The official said the administration was ready to take further action against “the very largest Russian financial institutions, including Sberbank and VTB, which collectively hold almost $750 billion in assets — or more than half the total in Russia as the whole.”
The penalties the administration rolled out late Monday were more narrowly focused on the two separatist Ukrainian territories into which Putin sent troops for what he claimed were “peacekeeping” purposes.
“We are starting high and staying high,” the official said, dismissing the suggestion by a reporter that the United States was, in fact, the “starting medium.” “These are severe costs that we are imposing. Nord Stream 2, for example, is Putin’s prized pipeline. He poured $11 billion into building the pipeline. It would have provided billions of dollars each year in revenue. That is now shut down after very close consultations overnight with Germany.”
Asked whether the White House has any plans to impose sanctions against Putin himself, the official would only reiterate Biden’s general stance, saying, “All options remain on the table.”
Biden administration sends more fighter jets, attack helicopters and infantry to Eastern Europe
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued orders Tuesday to deploy a few thousand more U.S. troops to Eastern Europe, responding to a new invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The forces include an infantry battalion task force of about 800 soldiers from the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade that will deploy from Vicenza, Italy, to the Baltic region, a battalion of 20 AH-64 Apache helicopters moving from Germany to the Baltics, 12 additional Apaches shifting from Greece to Poland, and up to eight F-35 fighters responding to more than one location in Eastern Europe, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host-nation forces,” the Pentagon said.
The moves are temporary, the Pentagon said, and part of the 90,000 U.S. troops who are assigned to U.S. European Command on either deployments or multiyear assignments. They come after the United States already has deployed thousands of soldiers to Poland, Romania and Bulgaria in recent days as Russia built up its combat power along the Ukrainian border to more than 150,000 troops.
The latest deployments were announced as Biden detailed new sanctions against Russia. Biden said the United States will continue to provide “defensive assistance” to Ukraine — typically weapons — but has ruled out American troops fighting in Ukraine.
“Today, in response to [Russia’s] admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” Biden said.
Biden hopes to limit the impact Americans feel from sanctions on Russia
Biden said his administration is working to make sure that Americans are not deeply affected by upcoming sanctions on Russia.
“I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump,” he said Tuesday from the White House. “This is critical to me.”
Biden said the administration was monitoring energy supplies for any disruption and working to ensure stability. “This will be … will blunt gas prices.”
The president has regularly threatened to impose sanctions on Russia if the country moved forward with invading Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday amid fears of further military intervention.
“There’s no question that Russia is the aggressor,” Biden said. “So we’re clear-eyed about the challenges we’re facing.”
“Nonetheless, there is still time to avert the worst-case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions of people if they move as suggested,” he added.
Despite Putin’s actions, Biden said he hopes an opportunity to avert an escalating crisis is still on the table. But in the event that that time has passed, the United States will be prepared to respond accordingly.
“When all is said and done, we’re going to judge Russia by its actions, not its words,” he said. “And whatever Russia does next, we’re ready to respond with unity, clarity and conviction.”
“We’ll probably have more to say about this as he moves on,” the president added. “I’m hoping diplomacy is still available.”