Ukraine-Russia: Sanctions, repositioning of troops, equipment follow Putin’s entry to Ukraine

MOSCOW — President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced plans to enact the “first tranche” of sanctions on Russia in response to the country’s recognition of a pair of separatist regions in Ukraine.

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“Further Russian assaults in the Ukraine remains a severe threat in the days ahead, and if Russia proceeds, it is Russia and Russia alone that bears the responsibility,” Biden said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, adding that further sanctions could be levied on Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree recognizing the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s People Republic in eastern Ukraine, prompting condemnation from world leaders.

Update 8:54 p.m. EST Feb. 22: A senior FBI cyber official warned that U.S. businesses and local governments should remain vigilant for potential ransomware attacks after President Joe Biden issued harsh economic sanctions Tuesday targeting Russian banks and oligarchs, CNN reported.

David Ring, with the FBI’s Cyber Engagement and Intelligence Section, said during a phone briefing with private executives and state and local officials that Russia provides a “permissive operating environment” for cybercriminals that “is not going to get any smaller” amid Russia’s confrontation with the West over Ukraine, the network reported, citing two individuals who participated in the phone call.

According to the people on the call, Ring stated that the U.S. could see a “possible increase in cyber threat activity” from Russian state-backed hackers in the wake of Biden’s “first tranche” of economic sanctions on the country, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson issued the following statement:

“DHS has been engaging in an outreach campaign to ensure that public- and private-sector partners are aware of evolving cybersecurity risks and taking steps to increase their cybersecurity preparedness.”

Update 7:27 p.m. EST Feb. 22: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy put thousands of reservists on draft notice for military service as Russia positions its troops in eastern Ukraine, The Guardian reported.

In a televised Tuesday night address, Zelenskiy said that he is still pursuing diplomatic pathways out of the crisis, he will not cede any territory to Russia.

Per Reuters, Zelenskiy stated:

“There is no need for general mobilization today. We need to promptly replenish the Ukrainian army and other military formations.

“As the supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine, I issued a decree on the conscription of reservists during a special period.

“We must increase the readiness of the Ukrainian army for all possible changes in the operational situation.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Naval Institute reported that U.S. Department of Defense officials have expressed concerns over three Russian guided-missile cruisers positioned across the Black and Mediterranean seas to counter three NATO carrier strike groups.

Update 5:44 p.m. EST Feb. 22: U.S. F-35 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters already in Europe will be repositioned to the Baltic states and NATO’s eastern flank, a senior defense official confirmed to CNN late Tuesday afternoon.

In addition, an infantry battalion task force comprised of roughly 800 troops will move from Italy to the Baltic region, the official stated.

According to the network, four F-35s from Germany will deploy to the Baltic states, while four more will deploy to NATO’s southeastern flank. Meanwhile, 20 Apache helicopters from Germany are bound for the Baltic states, while another 12 from Greece will deploy to Poland.

The U.S. currently has roughly 90,000 troops in Europe on permanent and rotational orders, and the new personnel and equipment deployments are expected to be complete by the end of this week, the official told CNN.

Update 5:33 p.m. EST Feb. 22: In a joint press conference with Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken characterized the Russia-Ukraine situation as “the greatest threat to security in Europe since World War II,” accusing Putin of intending all along to “invade Ukraine, to control Ukraine, its people, to destroy Ukraine’s democracy,” The Guardian reported.

Blinken also confirmed that he will no longer meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“Now that we see the invasion is beginning, and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward (with) that meeting at this time.”

Update 5:17 p.m. EST Feb. 22: Escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine fueled violent stock market swings on Tuesday.

All three major stock benchmarks plummeted during the lion’s share of Tuesday’s trading, one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Investors appeared to welcome economic sanctions targeting Russia and its oligarchs, announced by U.S. President Joe Biden during an afternoon news conference, and some resumed trading afternoon trading following his remarks, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500, which at one point slid 1.8%, and other benchmarks recovered from their session lows.

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average pared its loss to about 300 points, while the Nasdaq Composite remained down 0.4% after rebounding somewhat,” the Journal reported.

Update 3:35 p.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden met Tuesday with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kulebo, amid what the president has called a “Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

In a readout released by the White House, officials said Biden met with Kulebo “to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Officials said the president discussed U.S. actions in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision Monday to recognize a pair of separatist regions in the country and “affirmed that the United States would continue providing security assistance and macroeconomic support to Ukraine.”

Update 2:55 p.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday that sanctions on Russia could affect prices Americans see at the pump, though he pledged that his administration would use “every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers from rising prices.”

“As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well here at home,” the president said. “We need to be honest about that. ... But as we do this, I’m going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy and not ours.”

He said officials were monitoring energy supplies and working with oil producers to help stymie rising costs.

Update 2:40 p.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden reiterated Tuesday that the U.S. does not intend to fight Russia amid ongoing tension between the country and Ukraine, though he added that officials wanted “to send an unmistakable message ... that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

“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,” he said. “Let me be clear: These are totally defensive moves on our part.”

He said officials continue to believe that Russia will launch a “massive military attack” against Ukraine.

“(I) hope I’m wrong about that -- hope we’re wrong about that,” he said, though he added that more than 150,000 Russian troops were surrounding Ukraine on Tuesday.

Update 2:35 p.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden said sanctions against Russia are meant “to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday.”

“These have been closely coordinated with our allies and partners and we will continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates,” Biden said. “We’re implementing full-blocking sanctions on two large Russian institutions: VEB and their military bank. We’re implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russia’s sovereign debt. That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from western financing. They can no longer raise money from the west and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”

The president said officials will also impose sanctions, beginning Wednesday, against “Russia’s elites and their family members.”

“They share in the corrupt gains of Russian policies and should share in the pain as well,” he said.

He added that Russia “will pay an even steeper price if it continues its aggression.’

“If Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions,” Biden said. “Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors? This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community.”

Update 2:20 p.m. EST Feb. 22: European Union officials on Tuesday agreed to issue new sanctions against Russia aimed at punishing the country due to the ongoing Ukraine crisis, Reuters reported.

“This package of sanctions that has been approved by unanimity by the member states will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said Tuesday at a news conference alongside France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, according to Reuters.

It was not immediately clear when the sanctions would go into effect. Reuters reported they will be levied against members of the lower house of Russian parliament who voted to recognize a pair of separatist regions in Ukraine, but not against Putin himself.

The U.S. has also vowed to issue new sanctions against Russia following Monday’s recognition of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine. President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks on the situation Tuesday afternoon.

Update 1:30 p.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden is scheduled to provide an update on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon.

It was not immediately clear when the president’s speech would begin. The president was initially scheduled to speak at 2 p.m., although officials later said remarks would come at 1 p.m.

Update 1:15 p.m. EST Feb. 22: In a statement obtained by BBC News, officials with Russia’s foreign ministry announced plans to evacuate its staff from Ukraine amid ongoing tension between the two countries.

“Our first priority is to take care of Russian diplomats and employees of the embassy and consulates general,” the statement said. Officials added that the evacuation will begin “in the very near future.”

Update 1:10 p.m. EST Feb. 22: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday that Russia “has never fulfilled a single, solitary one of its obligations under the Minsk agreements” shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the agreements have been long-dead.

While delivering a statement to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Sherman said Putin’s decision Monday to recognize a pair of separatist regions in Ukraine “amounts to a complete repudiation of Russia’s commitments under the Minsk agreements, directly contradicts Russia’s claims that it is committed to diplomacy and is a clear attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – as well as the UN Charter.”

“The ink was barely dry on the Minsk agreements before Moscow began to pretend that its guns, its artillery systems, and its anti-aircraft missiles had never been inside Ukraine at all. They attempted to gaslight the world into believing it was all a mirage, and that Russia had never been a party to this conflict,” Sherman said.

“Now Russia has showed the world its true intentions by once again violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its internationally recognized borders.”

Later on Tuesday, Putin blamed current leadership in Kyiv for the downfall of the Minsk agreements, which were aimed at restoring peace to eastern Ukraine.

“The Minsk agreements were killed long before yesterday’s recognition of the people’s republics of Donbas -- and not by us, not by representatives of these republics, but by the current Kyiv authorities,” he said.

Update 12:05 p.m. EST Feb. 22: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia is taking military action against Ukraine and has condemned Moscow’s decision to recognize separatist areas of southeast Ukraine as independent.

Stoltenberg called the move Tuesday a “serious escalation by Russia and a flagrant violation of international law.” The NATO chief called the military action a “further invasion” of Ukraine by Russia which had already invaded its neighbor in 2014.

He added that there’s “every indication” Russia continues to plan for a full-scale attack on Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said that NATO allies have more than 100 warplanes on high alert and more than 120 warships ready at sea from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean Sea.

He said that the NATO response force remains on high readiness but is not yet being deployed, although some allies are moving troops, ships and planes into the Baltic states and near the Black Sea to defend other NATO members.

Update 11:50 a.m. EST Feb. 22: At a news conference Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the Minsk Agreements, which were aimed at restoring peace to eastern Ukraine, no longer exist, according to Russian-state media and BBC News.

Putin also urged Ukraine to renounce its efforts to join NATO, The Guardian reported.

“We’re counting on resolution of all these differences. These differences will be sorted out between Kyiv and Luhansk and Donetsk regions,” he said, according to the newspaper. “But for the moment we understand that this is probably impossible in this current situation but we’re hoping for this in the future.”

Update 11:40 a.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden is now scheduled to deliver remarks on the ongoing situation in Ukraine at 1 p.m., according to the White House.

Earlier, officials said the president would speak at 2 p.m.

Update 11:15 a.m. EST Feb. 22: Russia’s upper house of parliament on Tuesday gave President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country amid ongoing tensions with Ukraine, The Associated Press reported.

In a statement released by the Kremlin earlier Tuesday, Putin asked the Russian Federation Council to adopt a resolution allowing for the use of the military “outside the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of generally recognized principles and norms of international law.”

The move could pave the way for further action in Ukraine after Putin on Monday recognized two separatist regions of the country. On Tuesday, White House officials characterized the situation as an invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Update 10:50 a.m. EST Feb. 22: President Joe Biden is scheduled to provide an update Tuesday afternoon on tensions between Russia and Ukraine, according to an updated schedule released Tuesday morning.

White House officials earlier said they expect to provide details about sanctions to be levied against Russia in response to the country’s decision to acknowledge two separatist regions in Ukraine at some point Tuesday.

Update 9:50 a.m. EST Feb. 22: White House officials are now calling Russian actions in Ukraine an invasion after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized a pair of separatist regions in Ukraine.

Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Finer told CNN on Tuesday characterized the decision as “Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine.”

“You’re going to hear from us later today additional sanction steps that go directly at Russia in response to the egregious step that they took yesterday away from diplomacy and down the further path toward war,” he said.

Update 9 a.m. EST Feb. 22: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the White House supports Germany’s decision to suspend the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize a pair of separatist regions in Ukraine.

“We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement,” she said in a statement posted on Twitter. “We will be following up with our own measures today.”

Update 8:50 a.m. EST Feb. 22: Officials with Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said one civilian and two Ukrainian soldiers have died amid shelling in eastern Ukraine.

Authorities identified the slain civilian as a man in his 50s who was born in the village of Novoluhanske. He died Monday.

Officials said the Ukrainian servicemembers killed had been injured by shrapnel. Twelve others were also injured, according to authorities.

In the last six days, Ukrainian officials said they have registered 166 attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The areas were recognized Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin as breakaway regions.

Update 6:51 a.m. EST Feb. 22: Japan’s prime minister said Tuesday that his country would join the U.S. and other G7 nations in imposing sanctions on Russia should an invasion of Ukraine be ordered, according to a story from Reuters.

Moscow’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine was “unacceptable and a violation of international law,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Tuesday.

The prime minister said his country would issue a strong response to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that could include sanctions against Russia.

Those sanctions could include a ban on semiconductor chips and other key technology exports and tougher curbs on Russian banks, according to The Japan News.

Update 6:26 a.m. EST Feb. 22: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Tuesday that his country will take steps to halt the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, The Associated Press is reporting.

Scholz told reporters in Berlin that his government was taking the measure in response to Moscow’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine.

The pipeline, which is not yet in use, would bring natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Scholz said that the government had decided to “reassess” the certification of the pipeline in light of the latest developments.

“That will certainly take time, if I may say so,” Scholz said.

Update 6:01 a.m. EST Feb. 22: Representatives of member nations of the European Union will meet Tuesday to decide how to respond to Russia’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine, according to the organization’s foreign policy chief.

“Clearly, that response will be in the form of sanctions,” Josep Borrell said in advance of the meeting to be held in Paris.

Borrell said the aim is not to impose the whole range of sanctions that the EU has prepared should Russia invade Ukraine, but rather to address Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, The Associated Press reported.

Asked by the AP whether Russia’s decision to send “peacekeepers” in to the area amounts to an invasion, Borrell said, “I wouldn’t say that’s a fully-fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that the United Kingdom will announce economic sanctions against Russia on Tuesday as he warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided on “a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

Johnson said that the sanctions, set to be announced in the House of Commons on Tuesday, are “just the first barrage of U.K. economic sanctions against Russia because we expect, I’m afraid, that there is more Russian irrational behavior to come,” The Guardian reported.

“I’m afraid all the evidence is that President Putin is indeed bent on a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine, the overrunning, the subjugation of an independent, sovereign European country and I think, let’s be absolutely clear, that would be absolutely catastrophic.”

Update 10:41 p.m. EST Feb. 21: In an emergency Monday night meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of separatist regions in Ukraine an “attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.”

Specifically, Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Putin’s claim that Russian forces entering the breakaway regions “nonsense,” adding “We know what they are,” CNN reported.

“We must meet the moment, and we must not look away. History tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly path,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield then accused Putin of “creating a pretext for war” by making a “series of outrageous false claims about Ukraine” and shot down his baseless claim that Ukraine is seeking nuclear weapons from the West, CNN reported.

The United States and its allies have “no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Ukraine and Ukraine doesn’t want them,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield closed her address by dismantling Putin’s insistence that Russia has a “rightful claim” to all Russian Empire territories, including Ukraine, Finland, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and portions of both Poland and Turkey, CNN reported.

“In essence, Putin wants the world to travel back in time, to time before the United Nations, to a time when empires ruled the world. But the rest of the world has moved forward. It is not 1919. It is 2022. The United Nations was founded on the principle of decolonization, not recolonization, and we believe the vast majority of U.N. member states and the U.N. Security Council are committed to moving forward not going back in time,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

Update 7:50 p.m. EST Feb. 21: The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting at 9 p.m. Monday in New York to address Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognizing the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, The Associated Press reported.

Ukraine, the United States and six other countries requested the emergency meeting. Russia, however, currently holds the council’s rotating presidency, meaning it holds veto power.

According to the AP, Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya stated in a letter to his Russian counterpart that Kyiv requested the urgent meeting because Putin’s actions violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the U.N. Charter and a 2014 U.N. General Assembly resolution.

The meeting will be open, The Guardian reported.

Update 6:55 p.m. EST Feb. 21: The Guardian has obtained video released by Ukraine officials appearing to show a convoy of military vehicles moving along a Ukrainian road. The officials confirmed to the news outlet, however, that it was not possible to determine if the troops belong to the Russian army or if they are comprised of Russian-controlled separatist units.

Meanwhile, Russian media outlet RTVI posted video late Monday of a military convoy mobilizing through the streets of Donetsk, capital of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, CNN reported.

Update 6:28 p.m. EST Feb. 21: Local residents of Makiivka, a town less than 10 miles west of rebel-held Donetsk, told Ukrainian officials that they have witnessed what appear to be armored Russian vehicles on the move, The Guardian reported early Monday evening.

One source, who declined to be named, told the British news outlet that “a huge convoy of Russian armored personnel carriers and other equipment has been travelling for one-and-a-half hours,” heading north toward the city of Yasynuvata, also in the Donetsk region.

Update 6:11 p.m. EST Feb. 21: The United States is moving its Ukraine embassy staff out of the country and into Poland, at least temporarily, Bloomberg reported early Monday evening.

The embassy had previously relocated from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv, The Guardian reported.

Update 5:53 p.m. EST Feb. 21: In a statement issued early Monday evening, the White House elaborated on details of U.S. President Joe Biden’s call earlier in the day with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In addition to reaffirming his commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Biden condemned Putin’s decision to “purportedly recognize the ‘independence’” of two territories in eastern Ukraine.

“President Biden reiterated that the United States would respond swiftly and decisively, in lock-step with its Allies and partners, to further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” according to the White House statement.

The White House also released a statement on Biden’s call with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying the leaders “discussed how they will continue to coordinate their response on next steps,” The Guardian reported.

Original report: It was not immediately clear if Russian troops had already entered the country, and if not, when that may occur.

The announcement follows a day of fast-moving developments in which Putin announced the recognition of two Russian-backed breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent, a move which experts said could be used to justify a Russian attack on the country following weeks of tension.

The declaration drew swift rebukes.

Officials with the Kremlin earlier confirmed that Putin planned to sign a decree recognizing the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic in the Donbas region of south-eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s former defense minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, told The Guardian that if Russia were to attempt to expand territory controlled by pro-Moscow separatists, “There would be war.”

>> Related: Ukraine: What does Putin want with it and what happens if he invades?

President Joe Biden spoke for just over a half hour Monday afternoon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden planned to issue an executive order prohibiting “new investment, trade and financing by U.S. persons to, from or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine.” The White House will also impose sanctions on people operating in either of the separatist regions.

Biden said Friday that he believed Putin had settled on the decision to invade Ukraine and that the capital city of Kyiv -- home to 2.8 million people -- was likely to be targeted.

“As of this moment I’m convinced he’s made the decision. We have reason to believe that,” Biden said during a news conference at the White House. He later added that the assessment was based on the fact that U.S. has “significant intelligence capabilities.”

“We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week -- in the coming days,” the president said, adding that an increase in propaganda seen in recent days across Russia appeared “consistent with the playbook the Russians have used before to set up a false justification to act against Ukraine.”

Biden stressed that there remained time to de-escalate the situation and return to negotiations.

“Until (Putin launches an attack), diplomacy is always a possibility,” he said.

Putin said Tuesday that he welcomed a security dialogue with the West as his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine, The Associated Press reported. However, Biden said that by Thursday, Russia had yet to move any of their troops from the area.

“We have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false-flag operation to have an excuse to go in,” Biden said Thursday. “Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine.”

Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists have accused each other in recent days of dozens of violations of a ceasefire agreement, with shelling reported in eastern Ukraine, according to The Washington Post. By Thursday afternoon, Ukrainian officials had reported dozens of incidents, including one that damaged a kindergarten in the village of Luhansk as 20 children and 18 employees were inside. Officials said three adults were injured. The facility’s staff and children were later evacuated.

Russian officials have claimed that Ukrainian forces were behind Thursday’s incident in Luhansk.

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In an address Tuesday from the White House, the U.S. president pledged that diplomacy would be given “every chance” to prevent a Russian invasion.

“Two paths are still open,” he said. “But let there be no doubt: If Russia commits this breach by invading Ukraine, responsible nations around the world will not hesitate to respond. If we do not stand for freedom where it is at risk today, we’ll surely pay a steeper price tomorrow.”

Check back for updates to this developing story.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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