WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday tough new sanctions on Russia for “initiating” an invasion of Ukraine, but said there was still time to avoid war, even as Vladimir Putin said. indicated plans to send troops beyond the borders of Russia.
Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, approved Putin unanimously to deploy “peacekeeping troops” to two separate Ukrainian regions now considered independent by Moscow, and potentially to other parts of Ukraine.
Biden announced what he called the “first tranche” of sanctions, which include moves to starve Russia of funding and target financial institutions and its “elites.”
But he left the door open for a final attempt at diplomacy to prevent a bloody full-scale Russian invasion.
“There is no doubt that Russia is the aggressor, so we are clear about the challenges we face,” the president said.
“Nevertheless, there is still time to avert a worst-case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions.”
Biden’s address followed a wave of sanctions announced by Britain and the European Union, after Putin recognized the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk rebel republics.
Germany also announced that it is stopping certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
Putin’s plans remain unclear, but Western officials have been warning for weeks that he is preparing an all-out invasion of Ukraine, a move that could spark a devastating war in Europe.
The Biden administration has signaled it no longer believes Russia is serious about avoiding conflict, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he canceled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later in the week Was.
“Now that we see that the offensive is about to begin and Russia has made clear its wholesale disapproval of diplomacy, there is no point in pursuing that meeting,” Blinken said.
Speaking to reporters, Putin said that the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine’s conflict no longer existed and that he recognized claims of territory greater than is currently controlled by separatists.
But he said the deployment of Russian troops would “depend on the specific situation … on the ground” and offered Ukraine a way out, abandoning its hopes of joining the US-led NATO military alliance.
“The best solution would be for the current Kiev officials to refuse to join NATO and maintain neutrality,” Putin said.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the coalition had “every indication” that Moscow was “planning a full-scale attack on Ukraine.”
With Kiev showing no sign of Moscow retreating, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called on Biden to appeal for more military aid.
Biden said in his White House address that the United States would continue to supply “defensive” weapons to Ukraine and deploy more US troops to strengthen NATO allies in Eastern Europe.
Kiev recalled its top diplomat from Moscow as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that recognition of territories set aside by Putin would launch a “further military offensive” against Ukraine.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said EU foreign ministers “unanimously agreed on an initial sanctions package,” as he also canceled a meeting with his Russian counterpart.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters: “The sanctions will hurt Russia and it will hurt a lot.”
Britain imposed sanctions on five Russian banks and three billionaires, and Canada followed similar measures.
There is debate in some capitals over whether Moscow sending troops into territory already controlled by Russian-backed rebels amounts to the kind of all-out offensive that would justify imposing harsh sanctions.
But Putin’s rhetoric was set to raise concerns.
Russia said it has established diplomatic ties “at the level of embassies” with separatist-controlled territories, which broke away from control of Kiev in 2014 in a conflict that claimed 14,000 lives.
And Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sent congratulations to his counterparts in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic.
A Ukrainian soldier was killed and six wounded on Tuesday in clashes with Moscow-backed rebels in the east, the military said.
In the border town of Shachastya, shelling ensued around a power station, as frightened residents awaited the Russian deployment.
A ball hit the roof of the apartment block of 59-year-old Valentina Shmatkova overnight, shattering all the windows in her two-room apartment.
“We spent the war in the basement,” she said, referring to the 2014 fighting that saw the region break away from Ukraine.
“But we weren’t expecting it. We never thought Ukraine and Russia would agree.”
After a dramatic televised meeting with his top officials, Putin spoke to the Russian people on Monday in an often angry hour-long address from his Kremlin office.
The Russian leader raided Ukraine as a “puppet” of the West, accusing Kiev of preparing a “blitzkrieg” to retake separatist territories.
US officials say 150,000 Russian forces are ready to launch an all-out attack on Ukraine.