Russia-Ukraine: Biden announces sanctions, troop movements in response to invasion: LIVE UPDATES
European officials say Russian troops have arrived in eastern Ukraine after Vladimir Putin announced he would recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two breakaway regions.
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Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that he wished the Obama administration had done more to punish Russia for invading and annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Tuesday.
Tensions are broiling between the West and Moscow amid the former Soviet country's decision to recognize and roll into a separatist region in Eastern Ukraine. President Biden said during a press briefing Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was beginning an "invasion." He said the stockpiles of blood on the Ukrainian border were an imminent sign of aggressive military intentions. "You don’t need blood unless you plan on starting a war," Biden said.
The U.S. military is moving more troops and equipment to Europe as tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to escalate.
The military is moving F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and a battalion of 20 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from Germany, as well as 800 soldiers from Italy, to Baltic states and Poland in an attempt to reinforce NATO's eastern flank, according to reporting from Task & Purpose.
President Biden on Tuesday stressed that the additional troop movements were defensive in nature, making clear her did not intend to send the U.S. military into an armed confrontation with Russia.
“Today, in response to Russia’s admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movement of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe, to strengthen our Baltic allies: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania," Biden said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said President Biden promised his country more weapons from the U.S. for its bid to fight off a Russian invasion.
Asked by Fox News' Bret Baier if his meetings with Biden Tuesday resulted in a promise of more U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine, Kuleba said, "Yes," before noting that such guarantees should be moved on quickly given the uncertainties around Russia's intentions.
"The problem is we that we don't have a clear understanding of Putin's timeline… how he planned his further actions, neither here in Washington nor back in Kyiv," Kuleba said. "So the only solution that we have under these circumstances is to act as swiftly as we can."
White House press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration is still hoping for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine but expects Russia to continue to escalate the conflict.
"President Putin attacked Ukraine's right to exist" in his Monday speech, Psaki said. "He has explicitly threatened war unless his extreme demands are met. He gave an entire speech selling a war to the Russian people. Our expectation... is that he will continue to take escalatory actions and further invade the country."
White House Press secretary Jen Psaki did not rule out the possibility that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline come come back online after reaching an agreement with Germany to tank the project in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Asked by Fox News' Hillary Vaughn if she could rule out the possibility that Biden would allow the project to proceed in the future, Psaki would only say that Biden has "never" been supportive of the pipeline and that it was never operational before the punitive measures taken by the U.S. and Germany Tuesday.
Psaki said the president has "always criticized" the pipeline "as a project that we didn't support," noting that the sanctions issued "make that very clear."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said meetings with Russian leaders cannot take place as long as Russia continues to escalate the conflict with Ukraine.
Asked if President Biden would be open to a diplomatic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Paski said "this isn't the time" for such a meeting, arguing that Russia would be required to deescalate the situation in Ukraine before any meeting could take place.
Psaki said that the president is always "open" to conversations "leader to leader,", but made clear such a meeting cannot take play as Putin is "overseeing the invasion of a sovereign country."
The remarks come after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off a planned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, arguing such a meeting would "not make sense" amid Russia's current actions in Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the planned meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will no longer take place.
"Now that we see the invasion is beginning...it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time," Blinken said Tuesday.
The White House said earlier this week that the planned meeting was contingent upon Russia pursuing diplomacy over an invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issues a statement Tuesday that included an announcement that Russian diplomats would be evacuated from Ukraine.
“Our first priority is to take care of Russian diplomats and employees of the Embassy and Consulates General," the statement said. "In order to protect their lives and safety, the Russian leadership decided to evacuate staff of Russian missions in Ukraine, which will be implemented in the very near future."
President Biden announced that additional U.S. forces would be on the move to help reinforce the security of NATO countries amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
"I have authorized additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies," Biden said during an address Tuesday. "Let me be clear, these are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia."
But Biden said the U.S. wanted to send an "unmistakable message" that the U.S. was willing to "defend every inch of NATO territory."
President Biden noted that the Russian government was moving supplies of blood along with troops and ships near the Ukraine border, arguing it was a clear sign that the Russians intend to start a war in Ukraine.
“You don’t need blood unless you plan on starting a war,” President Biden said of Russia stockpiling blood supplies on the Ukrainian border.
The president also announced new sanctions against Russia in response to their recognition of separatists regions within Ukraine, warning that more measures were to come if Russia proceeded further into Ukrainian territory.
President Biden said that Russia has begun "invasion" of Ukraine Tuesday while announcing new sanctions aimed at deterring further Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Biden called the sanctions that are "far beyond" the sanctions imposed on Russia during its 2014 annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, saying the U.S. was cutting of Russia's major financial institutions from the west.
U.S. and European officials are preparing for a possible refugee wave out of Ukraine should Russia move forward with a full invasion of the Eastern European country – raising fears of a crisis that could eclipse the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.
"If [Putin] employs that kind of combat power, it will certainly create enormous casualties within the civilian population and so this could create a … tragedy, quite frankly, in terms of refugee flow and displaced people," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on ABC News on Sunday. "So this is potentially very, very dangerous."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced that he was recognizing two breakaway territories in Ukraine and followed it up with a deployment of troops that the White House has described as an "invasion."
European countries have been warning for weeks that a flood of Ukrainian refugees could soon follow any invasion by Russia, raising fears of a flood of people that could cause knock-on effects in nearby countries and the continent as a whole. Those fears are shared by American officials.
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President Biden is set to address the nation on Russia's invasion of Ukraine at 1 p.m. ET.
A White House official tells Fox News' Patrick Ward that Biden met with his National Security Team this morning.
Click here to watch Biden's address on Fox News.
The 27 European Union members nations have unanimously agreed on an initial set of sanctions targeting Russian officials over their actions in Ukraine, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the package approved Tuesday “will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot.”
Borrell said the sanctions would affect members of Russia’s lower house of parliament and other individuals involved in approving the deployment of Russian troops to separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine.
He says the package will also affect Russia's financing of policies linked to Ukraine by limiting access to EU financial markets.
“This story is not finished,” said Borrell of Russian actions in Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(AP/Markus Schreiber)
Demonstrators stand along the street near the Russian embassy in Berlin on Tuesday to protest the escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The scenes come after Germany announced earlier this morning that it was taking steps to halt the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked one of his chief officials during a televised meeting Monday, telling the intelligence officer to "speak plainly."
The Russian president grew testy with Director of Foreign Intelligence Sergey Naryshkin during a tense meeting on Ukraine . Putin was seemingly annoyed at what he characterized as unclear statements of support for declaring the independence of two Ukrainian regions.
"With the suggestion of Nikolai Platonovich, that we could give our, how to say it, Western partners, one last chance. Presenting them with the choice, in the shortest time frame, to force Kyiv to choose peace and implement the Minsk agreements," Naryshin told the president. "In the worst case, we must make the decision that we are discussing today."
"What does it mean, 'in the worst case'? Are you suggesting we start negotiations?" Putin asked. "Or to recognize sovereignty?"
As Naryshkin stuttered, attempting to respond, Putin pressed him harder.
"Speak, speak, speak plainly!" Putin said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a press conference Tuesday, has called on Ukraine to demilitarize.
U.S. inflation is already at the highest level in four decades. The worsening Ukraine-Russia crisis could push it even higher.
That's because the conflict is threatening to send oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014, according to RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas. Oil prices already surged to a fresh eight-year high on Tuesday after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, hitting $97.63.
A war in Europe – which many foreign policy experts say is a real possibility – could cause oil prices to climb as much as 20% to $120 a barrel, Brusuelas estimated. Should that happen, consumer prices in the U.S. would surge above 10% on an annual basis, the economist said, the highest since October 1981.
"The potential for a broader energy shock to the global and U.S. economies should Russia invade Ukraine has added to a combustible mix of factors that is causing inflation to accelerate in the United States and abroad," Brusuelas said. "That risk carries with it the potential to slow down growth."
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. (AP/Olivier Matthys)
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Fox News' Greg Palkot on Tuesday that further Russian troops have entered Ukraine's eastern Donbas region last night.
He described the actions as further Russian incursions, noting how Russia has gone from covert to overt with its military actions.
Lawmakers in Russia have granted President Vladimir Putin approval Tuesday to use military force outside of its borders, according to the Associated Press.
Members of the upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously in their decision -- effectively formalizing a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions of Ukraine, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson reports the latest from Lviv, Ukraine.
President Biden is preparing to speak about the latest developments in Ukraine at 1 p.m. ET.
The European Council announced Tuesday that it is finalizing a package of sanctions against Russia.
The package, it says, contains proposals to "target banks that are financing Russian military and other operations" in eastern Ukraine, "target the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU’s capital and financial markets and services" and "target trade from the two breakaway regions to and from the EU, to ensure that those responsible clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive actions."
Ukraine's defense ministry said Tuesday that two of its soldiers have died after receiving "shrapnel wounds" as a result of shelling from "Russian occupational forces" in the country's east.
"Twelve servicemen were wounded with varying degrees of severity and are in medical facilities and six servicemen received combat injuries," a statement read.
White House officials have confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that the Biden administration is now calling Russia's military maneuvers in Ukraine an "invasion," following comments Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer made during an early morning television interview.
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Fox News' Mark Meredith contributed to this report.
The United Kingdom's Foreign Office said Tuesday that "oligarchs at the heart of Putin’s inner circle and banks which have bankrolled the Russian occupation of Crimea have been targeted by the first wave of U.K. sanctions in response to Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty."
"It sends a clear message that the U.K. will use our economic heft to inflict pain on Russia and degrade their strategic interests," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said. "And we are prepared to go much further if Russia does not pull back from the brink. We will curtail the ability of the Russian state and Russian companies to raise funds in our markets, prohibit a range of high tech exports, and further isolate Russian banks from the global economy."
The Foreign Office also said it will "sanction those members of the Russian Duma and Federation Council who voted to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk in flagrant violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty."
U.S. stocks remained lower Tuesday morning but were off the worst levels of the session as investors weigh earnings from retailers against Russian President Vladimir Putin's ordering of troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.
Dow futures were down over 100 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite saw dips of 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
Western powers fear that Russia might use skirmishes in Ukraine's eastern regions as a pretext for an attack on the democracy, which has defied Moscow’s attempts to pull it back into its orbit.
West Texas Intermediate crude spiked to over $93 per barrel, while Brent, the global benchmark hit $97, as Germany announced plans to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia because of Moscow's actions in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced. Natural Gas prices jumped over 3%.
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(Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff/Handout via REUTERS)
Ukrainian service members ride atop tanks during tactical drills at a training ground in an unknown location in Ukraine, in this handout picture released Tuesday.
Russian troops have arrived in eastern Ukraine hours after President Vladimir Putin announced that he would recognize the independence of two separatist regions, European officials said Tuesday morning.
"Russian troops have entered in Donbas," the name for the area where the two separatist regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, are located, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Paris. "We consider Donbas part of Ukraine."
When asked whether Putin's decision to order Russian troops into the regions amounts to an invasion, Borrell said, "I wouldn’t say that’s a fully-fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil."
Poland's Defense Ministry and British Health Secretary Sajid Javid also said Russian forces had entered Ukraine's east. Javid went further, telling Sky News that "the invasion of Ukraine has begun."
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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, in a tweet Tuesday morning, said President Biden has "made clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 does not move forward."
Germany earlier this morning said it is taking steps to halt the process of certifying the key Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia over Moscow's latest actions in eastern Ukraine.
"We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement," Psaki added. "We will be following up with our own measures today."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his country's "first barrage" of sanctions against Russia over their actions in eastern Ukraine.
"Today, the U.K. is sanctioning the following five Russian banks: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank," Johnson told lawmakers. "And we are sanctioning three very high net worth individuals: Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg."
"Any assets they hold in the U.K. will be frozen, the individuals concerned will be banned from travelling here, and we will prohibit all U.K. individuals and entities from having any dealings with them," Johnson added.
“This is the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we are prepared to do: we will hold further sanctions at readiness, to be deployed alongside the United States and the European Union if the situation escalates still further," Johnson also said.
(AP/Vadim Ghirda)
Smoke billows from a power and heating plant after it was shelled in Shchastya, in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, in a speech to his country's military Tuesday, described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "criminal who wants the entire world to be his captive."
"The Kremlin has made yet another step towards resurrection of the Soviet Union... [but] the only thing that stands in between is Ukraine and its army," Reznikov said.
Reznikov also told his troops that a "tough road lies ahead" with losses, pain and fear, but "the victory shall be our reward. Because we are on our land and the truth is with us."
When asked by Fox News about military preparations for a potential larger conflict, he said "It's the job of our army, we are ready."
Fox News' Trey Yingst contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with Estonian President Alar Karis following their talks in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is continuing to downplay concerns of a potential Russian invasion of his country.
In a speech to Ukraine Monday night, Zelenskyy said "as for martial law... this question is clear to us. We believe that there will be no war, there will be no powerful [war] against Ukraine and there will be no wide escalation by the Russian Federation," he said, according to Reuters. "If there is a [wide escalation], then martial law will be introduced."
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy suggested that Ukraine could cut off diplomatic ties with Moscow.
"I've received a request from the foreign ministry. I will consider the issue of severing diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Immediately after our press conference, I will consider this issue," Reuters quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
European Union foreign ministers have planned a meeting Tuesday to decide what sanctions to impose over Russia’s decision to recognize two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the aim is not to impose the whole range of sanctions that the EU has prepared should Russian invade Ukraine, but rather to address the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.
Separately, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Putin had “completely torn up international law” and incoming British sanctions will target not just the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk but “Russian economic interests as hard as we can.”
Johnson is to set out further details of his country's sanctions in the House of Commons later Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Monday. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russia on Tuesday said its recognition of independence for two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine includes territory currently held by Ukrainian forces as well.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has recognized the rebel regions’ independence “in borders that existed when they proclaimed” their independence in 2014.
Ukrainian forces later reclaimed control of large part of both regions during a nearly eight-year conflict that has killed over 14,000 people.
Late Monday, convoys of armored vehicles were seen rolling across the separatist-controlled territories. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were Russian.
Russian officials haven't yet acknowledged any troop deployments to the rebel east, but Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters that the Russian troops already had moved in, taking up positions in the region's north and west.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, northern Germany, on Feb. 15. (AP/Michael Sohn)
Germany on Tuesday is taking steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia because of Moscow's actions in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced.
Scholz said that the government had decided to “reassess” the certification of the pipeline, which hasn’t begun operating yet, in light of the latest developments.
“That will certainly take time, if I may say so,” he said.
Germany meets about a quarter of its energy needs with natural gas, a share that will increase in the coming years as the country switches off its last three nuclear power plants and phases out the use of coal. About half of the natural gas used in Germany comes from Russia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine, at the U.N. headquarters on Monday. (Evan Schneider/United Nations via AP)
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, during a speech to the United Nations Security Council Monday, criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for recognizing two eastern Ukraine breakaway regions.
"He has since announced that he will place Russian troops in these regions. He calls them peacekeepers. This is nonsense," she said. "We know what they really are. In doing so, he has put before the world a choice. We must meet the moment, and we must not look away."
"We do not have to guess at President Putin’s motives," she added. "Today, President Putin made a series of outrageous, false claims about Ukraine aimed at creating a pretext for war, and immediately thereafter, announced Russian troops are entering the Donbas."
Russian forces have arrived in Ukraine's breakaway regions, European leaders suggested Tuesday morning.
When asked whether Putin's decision to order Russian troops into these regions amounts to an invasion, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, "I wouldn’t say that’s a fully fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil."
Britain's defense secretary, Ben Wallace, warned of worrying signs that Russia has begun to move forces into Ukraine. He admitted that reports of military equipment moving into Ukraine's Donbas region need to be verified, however.
A witness sent Reuters footage of columns of military vehicles, including tanks and APCs, moving on the outskirts of Donetsk early on Tuesday.
Donetsk is one of the two breakaway regions that Putin recognized on Monday. This move seems to comport with Putin's orders.
Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops into the two breakaway regions of Ukraine after recognizing their independence, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Russian government's legal portal published his two decrees following a televised address late Monday.
An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council convened, with the United States and allies seeking to isolate Russia and condemning the deployment of Russian troops. Ukraine requested the late-night meeting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that he will recognize the independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions in eastern Ukraine, an apparent signal that he will not back down from a potential invasion.
Russia expert Rebekah Irina Koffler said, "Having recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and signed treaties today, Russia will almost certainly deploy armed forces, imminently, to occupy these breakaway territories. Putin has already authorized the deployment of 'peacekeeping' troops into Eastern Ukraine."
Meanwhile, President Biden signed an executive order Monday imposing economic sanctions on these separatist Ukraine regions, but he stopped short of imposing penalties directly on Russia. A senior administration official tells Fox News that further measures will be taken Tuesday "to hold Russia accountable for this clear violation of international law."
Biden's agreement "in principle" to meet with Putin may be off after Russia's independence declaration. The senior administration official told Fox News that they "can't commit" to a meeting as Russia continues to prepare for military action.
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