President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the first wave of sanctions on Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be stepping up aggressions toward Ukraine, moving troops into two breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine and asking lawmakers to authorize his using troops overseas.
Putin framed the troop movement as a “peacekeeping” effort, but the Kremlin's decision came after Russia massed some 150,000 troops on its neighbor's borders, triggering dire warnings from the West that an invasion was imminent and that Moscow was trying to create a pretext for an attack.
The Biden administration has begun describing Russia’s movement of troops as “an invasion," and canceled a planned meeting between the country's top diplomats.
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Australia joins list of countries imposing sanctions on Russia
Australia joined the United States, the European Union, Canada, Germany and Britain to impose sanctions on Russia after Moscow ordered troops into separatist regions in Ukraine and recognized them as independent entities.
Australia will immediately begin placing sanctions on Russian individuals it believes were responsible over the country's actions against Ukraine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a news briefing Wednesday local time.
"Australians always stand up to bullies, and we will be standing up to Russia, along with all of our partners," he said. "I expect subsequent tranches of sanctions, this is only the start of this process."
Japan also announced that it would impose sanctions.
Homeland Security chief says no specific cybersecurity threats against U.S., urges vigilance
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Tuesday that his agency had no evidence to suggest the U.S. faces an imminent cyberattack threat from the Kremlin amid Russia's escalation in Ukraine.
But Mayorkas stressed that the agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, are working with state and local officials as well as private companies to share information about threats.
"We have no information to suggest a specific credible cyber threat against the U.S. homeland, but it is our responsibility to be prepared," Mayorkas said in a video tweeted Tuesday night.
Experts have warned that Russia's considerable cyberwar capabilities could be used to respond to U.S. pressure. Ukraine has already endured a few recent cyberattacks, including one that took down major government and financial websites.
Canada, Japan announce sanctions on Russia
The prime ministers of Canada and Japan have announced they will impose sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that his government will ban Canadians from all financial dealings with the so-called independent states of Luhansk and Donetsk. Canada will also ban Canadians from engaging in purchases of Russian sovereign debt, he added.
Trudeau said his government will sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted for the decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.
Canada will apply additional sanctions on two state-backed Russian banks and prevent any financial dealings with them, Trudeau said. He also said he was authorizing additional troops to the region.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that sanctions will include prohibiting the issuance of Russian bonds in Japan and freezing the assets of certain Russian individuals.
Kishida, who also called on Russia to return to diplomatic discussions, said he did not see a significant impact on energy supplies in the short term from the current situation and said further steps would be considered should the situation worsen.
The United States, the European Union, Germany and Britain also announced ways they will punish Russia financially as they fear a further incursion is to come, a move Moscow has consistently denied for months.
GOP fissures over Russia, Ukraine highlight wider foreign policy divisions
As congressional Republican leaders push President Joe Biden to act more forcefully to punish Vladimir Putin for sending troops into Ukraine, former President Donald Trump and some of his prominent allies have been praising the Russian leader's style of power.
The fissures point to a growing divide in the Republican Party, between traditional foreign policy hawks who have advocated for a more confrontational U.S. posture to the Russian strongman and a Trump-aligned “MAGA” faction that has expressed some sympathy for Putin's tactics or described them as effective.
On Tuesday, the same day an interview of Trump praising Putin's moves as "genius" was published, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a very different tone by tearing into “Putin’s aggression” and urging Biden to take quick and aggressive action.
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Lawmakers urge Biden to 'receive authorization' before involving U.S. troops in Ukraine
A bipartisan group of 43 House members sent a letter to President Joe Biden Tuesday urging him to "receive authorization from Congress before involving U.S. armed forces in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
Biden has repeatedly said that no U.S. troops will be deployed into Ukraine. "That is not on the table," Biden said in December. In an interview with NBC News earlier this month, Biden was asked if there was a scenario could prompt him to do so, including rescuing American citizens.
“There's not. That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,” Biden said, after strongly urging all U.S. citizens to leave amid the escalating tensions.
In the Tuesday letter, led by Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, the lawmakers acknowledged Biden's stance, but added that should the situation change, "Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios."
"The American people, through their representatives in Congress, deserve to have a say before U.S. troops are placed in harm’s way or the U.S. becomes involved in yet another foreign conflict," they wrote.
White House defends sanctions after some Republicans criticize actions as insufficient
The White House on Tuesday pushed back against criticism that the new sanctions against Moscow are too narrow and do not go far enough to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for what President Joe Biden is calling "the beginning of a Russian invasion" of Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening, Daleep Singh, White House deputy national security adviser, said that the sanctions were not intended to "max out" at the beginning.
"Sanctions are not an end to themselves. They serve a higher purpose, and that purpose is to deter and prevent," Singh said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration intended to use the sanctions to "prevent a large scale invasion, death and destruction across Ukraine."
"If we do all the sanctions now, what is the deterrent effect or impact of preventing [Putin] to take further action?" Psaki asked.
Earlier Tuesday Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who serves on the Intelligence and Finance committees, called the sanctions “too little, too late,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., dismissed the Biden effort as "woefully inadequate."
People sing the Ukrainian national anthem during a protest outside the Russian Embassy in Kyiv on Tuesday.
People hold signs and chant slogans during a protest outside the Russian Embassy in Kyiv on Tuesday.
A woman wears Ukrainian national colors at a demonstration along the street near the Russian embassy in Berlin on Tuesday.
Czechs voice solidarity with Ukrainians
The people of the Velvet Revolution remember.
Czech residents voiced support for Ukraine on Tuesday, demonstrating in support as the country deals with ongoing escalations from Russia.
In Prague, Czechs demonstrated outside Wenceslas Square, where in 1989 mass demonstrations sparked the beginning of Czechoslovakia's split from the Soviet Union.
Demonstrators held signs reading "Putin hands off Ukraine" and "Ukraine is not Russia." On Twitter, Czech's minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, posted a photo of a building draped in the blue and yellow of Ukraine's flag.
Blinken calls off meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday canceled a planned meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, citing President Vladimir Putin's decision Monday to order troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
Blinken, speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a news conference, said he had sent his Russian counterpart a letter canceling their Thursday meeting in light of the Kremlin's actions.
When he initially agreed to the meeting, Blinken said, it was on the condition that Russia not invade Ukraine further. "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," Blinken said Tuesday.
He added that the U.S. and its allies "remain open to diplomacy, but Moscow needs to demonstrate it is serious. The last 24 hours demonstrated the opposite."
