Russia-Ukraine live updates: Biden announces sanctions on Russia after moves against Ukraine

A senior Biden administration official shared additional details Tuesday about the first tranche of sanctions against Russia, saying they represent merely the beginning of the U.S. response, should Putin continue his moves into Ukraine.

“Russia’s long-previewed invasion of Ukraine has now begun, and our response has also begun,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share details of a rapidly unfolding crisis. “And let me be totally clear: No Russian financial institution is safe if this invasion proceeds.”

The official said the administration was ready to take further action against “the very largest Russian financial institutions, including Sberbank and VTB, which collectively hold almost $750 billion in assets — or more than half the total in Russia as the whole.”

The penalties the administration rolled out late Monday were more narrowly focused on the two separatist Ukrainian territories into which Putin sent troops for what he claimed were “peacekeeping” purposes.

“We are starting high and staying high,” the official said, dismissing the suggestion by a reporter that the United States was, in fact, the “starting medium.” “These are severe costs that we are imposing. Nord Stream 2, for example, is Putin’s prized pipeline. He poured $11 billion into building the pipeline. It would have provided billions of dollars each year in revenue. That is now shut down after very close consultations overnight with Germany.”

Asked whether the White House has any plans to impose sanctions against Putin himself, the official would only reiterate Biden’s general stance, saying, “All options remain on the table.”

Former president Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to recognize two breakaway regions of Ukraine and deploy troops into the rebel-held territory as “genius.”

In an interview with the conservative “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton” radio show, Trump said he was impressed by news of Putin’s actions.

“Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said. “So Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’”

Trump said Putin will now “go in” to Ukraine “and be a peacekeeper.”

“That’s strongest peace force … We could use that on our southern border,” he said. “That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy … I know him very well. Very, very well.”

The former president then went on to say that Russia’s incursion “would have never happened” if he had been in office, and accused Biden of not having a proper response to Putin’s moves.

In December 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democrats argued that he had leveraged military assistance and an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in exchange for investigations of Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and a debunked theory alleging Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.

After a trial, he was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued orders Tuesday to deploy a few thousand more U.S. troops to Eastern Europe, responding to a new invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

The forces include an infantry battalion task force of about 800 soldiers from the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade that will deploy from Vicenza, Italy, to the Baltic region, a battalion of 20 AH-64 Apache helicopters moving from Germany to the Baltics, 12 additional Apaches shifting from Greece to Poland, and up to eight F-35 fighters responding to more than one location in Eastern Europe, the Pentagon said in a statement.

“These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host-nation forces,” the Pentagon said.

The moves are temporary, the Pentagon said, and part of the 90,000 U.S. troops who are assigned to U.S. European Command on either deployments or multiyear assignments. They come after the United States already has deployed thousands of soldiers to Poland, Romania and Bulgaria in recent days as Russia built up its combat power along the Ukrainian border to more than 150,000 troops.

The latest deployments were announced as Biden detailed new sanctions against Russia. Biden said the United States will continue to provide “defensive assistance” to Ukraine — typically weapons — but has ruled out American troops fighting in Ukraine.

“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,” Biden said.

Biden said his administration is working to make sure that Americans are not deeply affected by upcoming sanctions on Russia.

“I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump,” he said Tuesday from the White House. “This is critical to me.”

Biden said the administration was monitoring energy supplies for any disruption and working to ensure stability. “This will be … will blunt gas prices.”

The president has regularly threatened to impose sanctions on Russia if the country moved forward with invading Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday amid fears of further military intervention.

“There’s no question that Russia is the aggressor,” Biden said. “So we’re clear-eyed about the challenges we’re facing.”

“Nonetheless, there is still time to avert the worst-case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions of people if they move as suggested,” he added.

Despite Putin’s actions, Biden said he hopes an opportunity to avert an escalating crisis is still on the table. But in the event that that time has passed, the United States will be prepared to respond accordingly.

“When all is said and done, we’re going to judge Russia by its actions, not its words,” he said. “And whatever Russia does next, we’re ready to respond with unity, clarity and conviction.”

“We’ll probably have more to say about this as he moves on,” the president added. “I’m hoping diplomacy is still available.”

In announcing new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, President Biden said Putin had “bizarrely asserted” that the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine were independent republics and then authorized Russian forces to deploy into those regions.

“To put it simply, Russia just announced that it is carving out a big chunk of Ukraine,” Biden said. “He’s setting up a rationale to take more territory by force, in my view … This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he indicated, and asked permission to be able to do from his Duma.”

Biden said the new sanctions go far beyond those implemented in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea, and that the U.S. and its allies “stand prepared to go further” if Putin proceeds further with his invasion.

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives them the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belong to his neighbors?” Biden said. “This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community.”

President Biden said Tuesday that he’s authorized the additional movement of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to support Baltic allies — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — against Russian threats.

“Let me be clear: These are totally defensive moves on our part; we have no intention of fighting Russia,” Biden said during a White House address. “We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO.”

Biden said the administration still believes that Russia is “poised to go much further in launching a massive military attack against Ukraine.”

“I hope I’m wrong about that,” he said. “I hope we’re wrong about that. But Russia is only escalating its threat against the rest of Ukrainian territory, including major cities, including the capital city of Kyiv. There are still well over one hundred and fifty thousand Russian troops surrounding Ukraine.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Putin had turned his back on diplomacy in favor of invading a sovereign country, and said the rest of the world would be watching the response of the United States.

“Every indication suggests [Putin’s] actions will almost certainly be used as a prelude to even further aggression and an even larger invasion,” McConnell said in a statement. “If that occurs, many Ukrainians could die. The humanitarian consequences could be catastrophic.”

McConnell added that the threat would not stop with Ukraine, and that “all the free nations of the world” would be affected if Putin’s aggressions stood unchallenged.

“The world is watching. Our allies, our adversaries, and neutral countries will all judge the West by our response — and plan their futures accordingly.”

McConnell called on Biden to impose “devastating sanctions against the Kremlin and its enablers,” and said Putin must pay a much heavier price than for his previous invasions of Georgia and Ukraine. He also said Germany must permanently cancel the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and that NATO must shore up defenses along its eastern flank.

McConnell’s statement was more cautious than that of House Republican leadership, which accused Biden of “appeasement” and lack of strong action against Russia.

“The U.S. and our allies must now make the Putin regime pay for this aggression,” House GOP leaders said in a statement Tuesday. “China, Iran and North Korea are watching. They must see us respond firmly to this Russian aggression.”

Russia’s mounting aggression against Ukraine is creating a new and potentially prolonged period of uncertainty about global oil and gas supplies.

A long conflict could send crude oil prices higher, taking the price of gasoline with them. It could also create more uncertain natural gas supplies for Europe, which relies on Russian exports to heat and power many of its homes and factories.

Russia’s ability to continue serving as one of the world’s largest oil and gas suppliers will depend on several factors: whether Western sanctions disrupt Russian exports; whether conflict damages Russian export pipelines traveling through Ukraine; and whether Russia resorts to curbing its exports to punish the West.