Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized two regions in Ukraine as independent and ordered Russian troops to conduct "peacekeeping" operations there, raising fears that Russia was paving the way for an attack. The move drew international condemnation and further isolation at the United Nations, United States sanctions and a promise from the United Kingdom that it would sanction Russia as well.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced the first round of limited economic sanctions, along with more restrictions.
Putin's announcement named the two regions the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic. Both are unrecognized territories carved out by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region after fighting against Ukrainian government forces in 2014.
The declaration is a serious escalation that effectively kills the Minsk Agreement, which set out a series of military and political steps designed to resolve the situation in the two separate regions and end the 8-year-old conflict there .
The United Nations Security Council responded by holding an emergency meeting on Monday evening, where the US representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Putin had "torn to pieces" the Minsk Agreement and warned that Russian forces would stop moving forward. "Disastrous" will arise. loss of life" and causes refugee crises across Europe.
She warned that Putin's ambitions extend far beyond Ukraine, and has emphasized Russia's claims to all former territories of the former Russian Empire.
"Putin wants the world to travel back in time. For a time before the United Nations," she said. "At a time when empires ruled the world. But the rest of the world has moved on. It's not 1919. It's 2022."
Russia's Vasily Nebenzya in turn accused Ukraine of attacking and shelling civilians in the Donbass conflict, while Ukrainian representative Sergei Kislitsya said Russia's recognition of the territories was "illegal and illegitimate".
"The only way to resolve existing differences is through dialogue," said Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN's chief political officer. "We call on all concerned actors to focus their efforts on the immediate cessation of hostilities."
The meeting was adjourned without any collective statement or action.
Earlier speaking to citizens of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin's action was a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Ukraine.
At a high-level meeting early Monday, Putin met with members of his Security Council, who urged the president to take action, citing Ukrainian inaction on implementing the Minsk accord.
Russian-backed rebel leaders of self-declared republics earlier on Monday urged Putin to recognize their independence and provide security guarantees.
The US has said that Russia has amassed 190,000 troops along its border with Ukraine.
According to a statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, President Biden is attempting to "restrict new investment, trade and financing by American individuals in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine". Will issue executive orders. The statement said the order would allow sanctions to be imposed on anyone violating the order and that the state and Treasury departments would share more details soon.
Saki says the administration will soon have more announcements "regarding today's gross violations of Russia's international commitments" that are different from the economic consequences that Russia would inflict if it invades Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the United Kingdom would announce its own sanctions on Russia on Tuesday for "violations of international law and attacks on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
NATO countries promised sanctions
Biden and Zelensky held a 35-minute call Monday afternoon, the White House said, and Biden also called a call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Scholz and Macron also spoke to Putin on Monday. Scholz said in a statement that he told Putin that any such move would unilaterally violate the Minsk Agreement and urged Putin to pull Russian troops from the Ukraine-Russia border.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the recognition of the regions "a gross violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk Agreements". The EU promised sanctions "against those involved in this illegal act".
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Putin's announcement "another sign that things are moving in the wrong direction in Ukraine." "We will continue to do everything we can to stand with the people of Ukraine," he said, including framing sanctions and strengthening NATO's eastern flank.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres considers Russia's decision "a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty", according to a UN statement. Guterres urged all sides to focus on cessation of hostilities, protecting civilians and continuing diplomacy.
Russia has claimed that the situation along the line of contact in the Donbass has been deteriorating in recent days, and Putin has said Ukraine is committing "genocide" there and sending in troops is believed to protect its people. will be taken. The US has described these claims as a false-flag operation intended to excuse an invasion.
White House says Russian troops in Donbass 'won't be a new step in itself'
At the same time that the US condemned the Russian move, the White House downplayed the importance, telling reporters that advancing Russian forces into the Donbass would not lead to a further invasion of Ukraine because Russian forces had been in the region since 2014, despite denials in the region. is in. Moscow.
"Russian troops moving into the Donbass will not be a new step. Russia has had troops in the Donbass region for the past eight years," a senior administrative official told reporters on a briefing call on Monday evening, on condition of anonymity. , "Their statement has been that they do not. Our definitive knowledge has been that they have."
The official said that the U.S. The Russian sees the attack as it had anticipated, but said the U.S. Pledges to pursue diplomacy until the tanks roll.
“Unfortunately, the sequence of events laid out by [Antony] Blinken, Secretary of State at the United Nations Security Council, is proceeding exactly as we anticipated,” the official said of the false flag incidents, Putin’s Security Council meeting and announcement. Referring to said of the independent republics in Eastern Ukraine.