Ukraine escalation: USA and EU announce sanctions
Created: 02/21/2022Updated: 02/22/2022, 00:00
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (2nd from right, Alliance 90/The Greens) at a meeting with EU colleagues in Brussels.
© Virginia Mayo/AP/dpa
Hopes for a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict seem to have been dashed, and now Russian soldiers are to move into the east of the country.
The West wants to impose sanctions.
Kiev/Moscow/Brussels - Dramatic escalation in the Ukraine conflict: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops to be sent to the embattled east of the country.
The units are supposed to ensure "peace" in the "People's Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk", which he had just recognized as independent states.
This emerges from a decree signed by the head of the Kremlin in Moscow.
It was initially unclear when the soldiers would move into the areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The USA and the EU announced punitive measures.
Violations of ceasefire
The ceasefire agreed years ago in Donetsk and Luhansk no longer holds due to hundreds of violations, Ukrainian government troops and insurgents are fighting there.
According to Western information, Russia has gathered around 150,000 soldiers on the border with the neighboring country.
An early advance into eastern Ukraine would therefore be easily possible.
For weeks Moscow had denied Western fears that an invasion could be imminent.
The decision is likely to further fuel the Ukraine conflict.
The EU will respond with sanctions, as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel explained.
The punitive measures should be taken by those involved, it said.
Von der Leyen and Michel condemned the decision as a "blatant violation of international law and Ukraine's territorial integrity".
The US government will also impose sanctions, as announced by US President Joe Biden's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.
The measures would affect, among other things, investments or trade by US persons with a view to Donetsk and Luhansk.
Biden reiterated that the United States, in lockstep with its allies and partners, would respond “swiftly and decisively” to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also denounced Putin's move as an "open breach of international law" and spoke of a "blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity".
Putin accuses NATO of "outrageous appropriation".
With a view to the fighting in Donbass, Putin called on the Ukrainian leadership to immediately stop firing in Ukraine.
Otherwise, Kiev will bear full responsibility for it, he said.
The Kremlin chief also accused NATO of having started an "outrageous appropriation" of Ukraine.
The West wants to open up Ukraine as a "theater of possible hostilities".
The pro-Russian separatist leaders in the two regions had previously asked Putin for assistance in fighting the Ukrainian government troops.
According to UN estimates, more than 14,000 people have died in the eight-year conflict.
Despite the lack of evidence, Putin spoke in the television speech of a mass crime against people of Russian origin in eastern Ukraine.
"The so-called civilized world prefers to ignore the genocide in Donbass committed by Kiev," Putin said.
Four million people are affected.
The United States recently accused Russia of possibly wanting to use the accusation of genocide as a pretext for an invasion.
Putin also accused NATO of years of deception.
When Germany was reunited in Soviet times, Russia was promised that NATO would not expand a bit to the east.
"You betrayed us," Putin said, accusing the Western alliance of having already pulled through five waves of eastward expansion -- and treating Russia like an enemy.
"Why all that?
What for?” Putin asked.
He had recently warned several times against Ukraine's admission to NATO.
This threatens Russia's security.
Putin also warned that nuclear weapons could be manufactured in Ukraine.
"Ukraine actually still has Soviet nuclear technologies and delivery systems for such weapons."
Baerbock: "Breach of international law"
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Russia's recognition of the separatist regions as a "blatant breach of international law" and "a serious blow to all diplomatic efforts towards a peaceful settlement and a political solution to the current conflict".
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone in the evening and agreed that this step by Russia would not go unanswered.
According to a spokesman, all three declared their solidarity with Ukraine.
"The partners agreed not to let up in their commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine." Among other things, Macron called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
more on the subject
Blinken sees the United States and Europe united in the Ukraine conflict
London accuses Russia of influencing Ukraine
US promises more military aid to Ukraine
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said: "What we have witnessed tonight may seem surreal for the democratic world.
But how we respond to it will define us for generations to come."
EU and NATO member Lithuania also feels threatened by Russia.
Earlier during the day, the Kremlin had dampened hopes of an early meeting between Putin and Biden.
The foreign ministers of Russia and the USA want to meet in Geneva on Thursday.
Russia is aware that the move will have serious consequences in view of the sanctions threatened by the West, said Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.
In view of the situation, however, there is no other option than to recognize the areas.
The pressure on Russia will be unprecedented.
The hope is that the conflict will cool down afterwards.
UN emergency meeting announced
The United Nations Security Council should also deal with the escalation in the conflict.
The United States, Great Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland requested an emergency meeting of the most powerful UN body for the same evening, as the German Press Agency learned from diplomatic circles.
In the past few weeks, the western countries in the 15-member United Nations Security Council had drawn up a plan of action in the event of an attack on Ukraine or some other escalation.
This also includes a draft resolution that should contain a demand on Moscow to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
It was initially unclear whether the text would be introduced at the upcoming meeting.
Russia, which currently chairs the Security Council, could try to prevent the meeting.
To do this, Moscow would have to demand a so-called procedural vote, in which less than nine of the 15 states voted for the deliberations.
That is considered unlikely.
There is no right of veto for procedural votes.
dpa