In a speech at the White House on Tuesday (22), US President Joe Biden announced a package of sanctions against Russia. The determinations include a total blockade on two Russian banks, a ban on financing and debt trading with the Western market.
Biden also announced that he authorized the deployment of more US military forces and equipment in Europe to “strengthen” Baltic allies in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. According to the American president, the number of additional troops will leave the contingent equivalent to the amount of Russian soldiers in Belarus.
The measure is a reaction to the move by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Monday (21) considered separatist groups in eastern Ukraine as independent and ordered the deployment of troops to the two regions. Now, Russia recognizes the self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, led by rebels opposed to the Ukrainian government.
During the speech, Biden said that the US is working together with Germany to “ensure that Nord Stream 2 does not advance”. The 750-mile pipeline that would transport natural gas directly from Russia to Germany has already been built but is not yet certified to operate. NATO allies believe that Nord Stream 2’s Russian gas supply could be used as pressure against Europe.
The American president described Putin’s moves as “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine”. “I will start imposing sanctions in response, far beyond the measures that we and our allies and partners implemented in 2014. And if Russia goes further with this invasion, we are prepared to go further with sanctions,” he said during the speech. .
On Monday night, shortly after Putin announced recognition of the rebel areas, Biden had already signed an executive order that imposed a series of financial sanctions only on Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
With the order signed by the American president, a ban on trade, financing and investment between American individuals and the two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine was established. The entry of immigrants or non-immigrants whose destination of origin is the two areas was also suspended.
understand the conflict
After months of military escalation and intemperance on the Ukrainian border, Russia is increasing pressure on its former Soviet neighbor, threatening to destabilize Europe and involve the United States.
Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine for the past year, amassing tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery at the country’s gates. The mobilization prompted warnings from US intelligence officials that a Russian invasion could be imminent.
In recent weeks, diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions have not come to a conclusion. The independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two Ukrainian separatist areas, was recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday (21).
The escalation in the years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine has set off the continent’s biggest security crisis since the Cold War, raising the specter of a dangerous confrontation between Western powers and Moscow.
(From Sarah Marsh and Madeline Chambers of Reuters and Eliza Mackintosh,
Source: CNN Brasil
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