Russia-Ukraine live updates: E.U. says Kremlin forces are in breakaway territories; Germany halts major gas pipeline

LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that the United Kingdom will “immediately institute a package of economic sanctions” that will hit the “interests that have been supporting Russia’s war machine.”

Johnson was set to announce details of the sanction package in the House of Commons later in the day.

Speaking to broadcasters after an early-morning meeting of COBRA, the government’s emergency committee, Johnson said that sanctions will “hit Russia very hard” and that this would be “just the first of a barrage of U.K. economic sanctions” against Russia “because we expect, I’m afraid, that there is more Russian irrational behavior to come.”

London has long been a playground for Russian oligarchs, who pour billions into the city’s property market. Johnson said that “if Russian companies are prevented from raising capital on the U.K. financial markets, if we unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies, of property, it will start to hurt.”

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov brushed off the threat of sanctions Tuesday.

“Our European, American, British colleagues will not stop and will not calm down until they have exhausted all their possibilities for the so-called ‘punishment of Russia,’ ” Lavrov said. “Well, we’re used to it. We know that sanctions will be imposed anyway.”

MOSCOW — A separatist official in eastern Ukraine called on the Kyiv government Tuesday to “withdraw” its forces or the region, backed by Russia’s military, would “take measures,” according to Russian state-owned media, an ominous warning that could signal a further invasion of Ukraine.

Russia on Monday recognized the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), two Moscow-backed separatist regions. Together, they occupy about a third of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, or regions, of eastern Ukraine but claim the entire areas.

The territorial claims include the key port city of Mariupol, under government control, on the Sea of Azov.

The text of Russia’s agreement to recognize the breakaway regions says it is doing so within their “existing borders,” yet some separatist and Russian officials immediately interpreted it to include territory under the control of the Kyiv government. It provides for joint enforcement of the borders and for Russian military bases in the region.

This means that separatists could launch military action against Ukraine, backed by Russian forces, to try to seize the claimed areas, constituting a further Russian invasion.

Almost as soon as the ink was dry on the Kremlin’s recognition treaty, an official from the separatist LPR parliament, Dmitry Khoroshilov, asserted the region’s claim to the whole of the Luhansk region and called on Ukraine to withdraw its forces “voluntarily,” Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported.

“Our territory is the whole Luhansk region. We call on Ukraine to withdraw its troops voluntarily, otherwise measures will be taken,” the agency quoted him as saying.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has continued since 2014, killing almost 14,000 people.

Earlier, Leonid Kalashnikov, head of Russia’s Committee on Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs in the country’s lower house of parliament, or State Duma, said the treaty “did not specify” what territory was recognized, but he said he believed it covered the entire Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts claimed by the separatists.

The ambiguity echoed from one official to another, leaving Russia wiggle room to interpret the deal as it wishes.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the “nuances” would be sorted out later. Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the upper house’s foreign affairs committee, told state television that Russia recognized the “actual borders,” adding: “We shall remind you that part of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are controlled by Kyiv.”

Russia’s parliament was expected to rubber-stamp the recognition treaties Tuesday.

The Donbas region in eastern Ukraine has been a flash point in the escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine, which hinges on land borders and strategic influence.

The region became even more critical Monday as Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two Moscow-backed breakaway enclaves there that call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. The Russian leader also signed decrees ordering military forces into the region for “peacekeeping” purposes. The formal recognition marks a considerable escalation that signals an end to the seven-year peace deal known as the Minsk agreement. It’s also seen as one that could give the Russian leader a pretext to invade Ukraine.

The formal recognition prompted a chorus of condemnation from Western leaders, with some announcing sanctions, holding emergency meetings and roundly accusing Moscow for breaching international law.

President Biden signed an executive order Monday blocking trade and investment by Americans in two separatist enclaves of Ukraine after Moscow recognized the breakaway regions’ independence and announced that it was sending troops to the area for “peacekeeping” purposes.

Administration officials said additional measures — including more sanctions — would be announced Tuesday, though these would be separate from the strict measures promised if Moscow further invades Ukraine.

Britain is also preparing new sanctions. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will convene an emergency committee meeting Tuesday morning to agree on measures, which Downing Street officials described as “significant." London also said it would “explore sending further defensive support to Ukraine, at the request of the Ukrainian Government.”

A White House statement said President Vladimir Putin’s Monday maneuver “contradicts Russia’s commitments under the Minsk agreements, refutes Russia’s claimed commitment to diplomacy, and undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The Donbas region in eastern Ukraine has been a flash point in the crisis. Putin’s decision to recognize the two enclaves — where Moscow has backed rebel forces since 2014 — is a considerable escalation that Putin could use to justify an attack in those locations.

Biden’s order prohibits “new investment” by Americans, wherever they are located, into the separatist regions that call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

It also bars the “importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology from the covered regions.”

Foreign policy experts say the curbs probably won’t be sufficient on their own to deter Putin from further military action, but they were a way to buy time for the United States and its allies to take the next step.

“It’s weak symbolism. It’s not strong enough,” said Daniel Fried, a sanctions expert at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S. ambassador to Poland. “I think they’re going to go beyond it. I think they have to.”

The White House said Monday that the executive order is “distinct from the swift and severe economic measures we are prepared to issue with Allies and partners in response to a further Russian invasion of Ukraine,” adding that the administration is “continuing to closely consult with Ukraine and with Allies and partners on next steps and urge Russia to immediately deescalate.”

Fried said he doesn’t expect any measures announced Tuesday to go as far as cutting off a key gas pipeline between Russia and Germany — which would risk “burning up a lot of political capital” with Berlin.

Germany has promised an “absolutely united” front with the U.S. and other NATO allies, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stopped short of publicly promising to halt the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project. Fried said more plausible measures were those that target Russia’s financial sector, such as “going after one of the larger of the big [Russian] banks.”

Russia faced a sharp rebuke from several members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday as nations from Europe, Africa and North America criticized the Kremlin for recognizing breakaway regions of Ukraine and sending troops it characterizes as “peacekeepers.”

Criticism from countries during the evening emergency session appeared to irritate Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, who accused the Security Council in aggregate for misunderstanding the conflict. “Most of you did not find any place for the nearly 4 million residents of Donbas,” he said, referring to a region of eastern Ukraine that includes the separatist-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, who requested the meeting, offered a defiant statement even as his country was surrounded by more than 150,000 Russian troops. “We are on our land. We are not afraid of anything or anyone. We owe nothing to anyone and we will not give away anything to anyone,” Sergiy Kyslytsya said. “There should be no doubt whatsoever.”

Some African nations, including Kenya and Ghana, criticized the Russian activity and compared it to colonial aggression from centuries past.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also said Russia’s aggression belonged to another era. “Putin wants the world to travel back in time to a time before the United Nations — to a time when empires ruled the world,” she said. “Colleagues, President Putin is testing our international system.”

Representatives from Britain, France, Ireland and Norway issued blistering charges against Moscow, saying the Kremlin’s moves violated international law.

"The actions Russia has chosen today will have severe and far-reaching consequences,” said Barbara Woodward, Britain’s U.N. ambassador. “An invasion of Ukraine unleashes the forces of war, death and destruction on the people of Ukraine.” She, along with the United States, promised to impose “severe economic consequences” on Russia.

China and India took largely neutral positions, calling on both sides to listen to each other and act with restraint.

European officials said Tuesday that Russian forces had arrived in the breakaway territories of eastern Ukraine that Moscow on Monday formally recognized as independent.

“Russian troops have entered in Donbas. We consider Donbas part of Ukraine,” the European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in Paris. “I wouldn’t say that [it is] a fully-fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil,” he added. He said the E.U. would make a decision on sanctions on Tuesday in response to Moscow’s latest moves.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak also said in a radio interview Tuesday he could confirm that Russian forces entered the territories, describing it as a violation of Ukraine’s borders and international law.

After recognizing the two pro-Russian separatist enclaves in the Donbas region, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered forces into the territories for “peacekeeping” purposes, dramatically escalating a crisis that has put Europe on the brink of war.

The Kremlin has in the past denied putting troops in the disputed territories, though Ukrainian, European and American officials have previously documented their presence there.

China did not explicitly endorse Moscow’s latest moves toward Ukraine but still recognized what it called Russia’s legitimate security concerns, in Beijing’s latest tightrope act over the crisis in Eastern Europe.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called on all parties involved to “exercise restraint” and resolve the crisis through negotiation, in a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He still, however, referred to countries’ security concerns, a nod toward Russia’s assertions on Ukraine.

Speaking at an emergency U.N. meeting Monday night, Zhang Jun, China’s representative to the United Nations, urged all parties to “seek reasonable solutions” and address each country’s concerns based on “equality and mutual respect.”

The comments from top Chinese diplomats — coming after Russia’s commitment to deploy troops to the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Putin recognized as independent — underline Beijing’s conflicted position as the Ukraine crisis unfolds against the backdrop of warming ties with Moscow.

Beijing has long said that noninterference and respect for territorial integrity form the core of its foreign policy, principles of international law that China often cites when pushing back against criticism of its measures to exert more control in Hong Kong, Tibet or Xinjiang — or its claims to the self-governed democracy of Taiwan.

For China to support a Russian invasion of Ukraine would harm already deteriorating ties with Western nations, but Beijing is also eager to bolster its burgeoning relationship with Moscow to counter what China sees as U.S. efforts to suppress its rise as a global power.

At the start of the Winter Olympics in China, the two nations signed a joint statement pledging a strategic relationship of “no limits.” As the Ukraine crisis has escalated just after the close of the Winter Games, Beijing has joined Moscow in repeatedly criticizing the United States and NATO for provoking what it says are Russia’s “legitimate” security concerns.

Still, over the weekend, Wang, the foreign minister, said the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of any country should be respected and safeguarded,” adding, “Ukraine is no exception.”