President Joe Biden will announce a new “united response” from the United States and its NATO allies Thursday after a preliminary round of sanctions failed to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching a “special military operation” against Ukraine.
Putin delivered a speech at 6 a.m. Moscow time on Thursday, explaining to the Russian public how troops and other military assets would penetrate Ukraine beyond the disputed Donbas region. That speech was quickly followed by local reports of explosions near Kyiv and Russian aircraft flying overhead in the Ukrainian capital.
‘UNPROVOKED’ AND ‘UNJUSTIFIED’: BIDEN CONDEMNS RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden said in a statement responding to the invasion. “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
The president is scheduled to speak with his G-7 counterparts Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m., and he promised to deliver a national address “to announce the further consequences the United States and our Allies and partners will impose on Russia for this needless act of aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security.”
“We will also coordinate with our NATO Allies to ensure a strong, united response that deters any aggression against the Alliance,” he added. “Tonight, Jill and I are praying for the brave and proud people of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Biden immediately following Putin’s speech and, in his own televised address, vowed to “give weapons to anyone who wants to defend” Ukraine and compared Putin’s actions to those of Nazi Germany.
“As of today, our countries are on different sides of world history,” he stated. “Ukraine is defending itself and won’t give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks.”
Still, questions remain about the manner in which the Biden administration rolled out its first round of sanctions. Instead of immediately starting with a “maximum pressure” campaign as previously promised, the administration opted to sanction portions of the Russian financial system, select members of Putin’s inner circle of advisers, some of whom were already on U.S. sanctions lists, and block future investments in Luhansk and Donetsk, the two Ukrainian separatist regions recognized by Russia on Monday.
Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh fought off questions at the White House Tuesday about Biden’s decision to delink the sanctions, vowing that should Russia escalate its invasion, the U.S. would respond in time. Singh hinted that further U.S. measures could include targeting Sberbank and VTB Bank, “which collectively hold almost $750 billion in assets” and wide-scale export controls taken in coordination with U.S. allies.
“This was the beginning of an invasion; this is just the beginning of our response,” he stated. “No one should think that it’s our goal to max out on sanctions. Sanctions are not an end to themselves. They serve a higher purpose. And that purpose is to deter and prevent.”
Singh argued that the first round of U.S. sanctions were “meant to prevent and deter a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that could involve the seizure of major cities, including Kyiv.”
“They’re meant to prevent large-scale human suffering that could involve tens of thousands of casualties in a conflict,” he continued. “They’re meant to prevent the installation of a puppet government, controlled by Moscow, that subjugates the will of Ukraine and prevents the people of Ukraine from choosing their own destiny and setting their own course. That’s what this is all about.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged questions on Wednesday about whether a larger Russian invasion meant that Biden’s initial “strategy has failed.”
“Well, I would say as we look at it, we’re focused on accomplishing two things. One is implementing serious costs for the actions that have already been taken — so, the actions in the Donbas. And we’ve taken steps beyond what we did in 2014,” she stated during Wednesday’s press briefing. “Second, yes, deterrence is part of our objective. If he goes further, we will go further. We have a range of tools at our disposal. I mentioned some of the potential financial step or steps we could take that could impact financial institutions. That is very significant and could have a very significant impact, but we have far more options beyond that, including export controls.”
Senior administration officials declined to preview Biden’s next round of sanctions beyond confirming that a “full-scale” response would be announced on Thursday.
A number of Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, heartily criticized the Biden administration’s attempts to stop Russia’s invasion.
Trump told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham Wednesday night that had he still been in office, Russia would not have invaded.
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“It’s a very sad thing for the world, for the country, and it’s certainly very sad for a lot of people that are going to be needlessly killed,” he added. “It really started, I think, with the weakness in Afghanistan and the way they pulled out of Afghanistan. I really believe that’s where he started thinking that he could do this.”
