Russia-Ukraine live updates: U.S. calls Russia’s actions an ‘invasion,’ readies new sanctions; Biden to speak on crisis

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin denied Tuesday that his recognition of separatists’ claims to a large swath of Ukraine showed his ambition to re-create an empire.

Putin’s recognition of large areas now under Ukrainian government control as belonging to the separatists in eastern Ukraine undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity and paved the way for more conflict and a potential invasion.

Putin does not see Ukraine as a sovereign country, he said Monday in a rambling, angry televised address. And he has claimed that the country can never succeed until it bows to Moscow instead of building ties with the West. He has written that Russia and Ukraine are “one people” and that he sees Belarus as part of his “Russian world.”

But the Russian leader insisted Tuesday that he accepts the reality of the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, saying he knew that his recognition of the separatists’ claims would ignite comment.

“We were expecting speculation on the subject and claims that Russia sought to rebuild an empire within imperial borders,” Putin said, meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Kremlin. “This is absolutely wrong.”

In 2005, Putin said the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” He lamented that tens of millions of Russians — meaning Russian speakers of Russian descent — became citizens of other former Soviet countries.

Russia has issued passports to 800,000 Ukrainians in the separatist east since 2019 and on Monday accused Kyiv of “genocide” there, paving the way for Russian forces to move in as “peacekeepers” to defend its citizens. Before the evacuation of an undetermined number of civilians from the separatist regions to Russia last week, an estimated 3.8 million people lived in two self-proclaimed rebel “republics” in eastern Ukraine. The territory currently held by the separatists accounts for about a third of the region that they claim, Ukrainian forces having recaptured much of it since the war began in 2014.

Putin said that Russia strove to have good relations with former Soviet states and to “keep the interests of every party in mind” but that relations with Ukraine frayed after 2014. That was the year he annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and backed separatists in the east, leading to a war that has killed almost 14,000 people and continues to this day.

LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Britain’s first tranche of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday for its latest moves into Ukraine, targeting five Russian banks and three Russian billionaires who are members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson said any assets held in Britain by the banks and individuals will be frozen and that the three business executives will be banned from entering the country and doing business here. The three billionaires are:

The business executives were previously slapped with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department and classified by the U.S. government as Russian oligarchs. Timchenko and Boris Rotenberg were hit with sanctions in 2014 after the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea and have been described by the U.S. government as “members of the Russian leadership’s inner circle.” The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Igor Rotenberg in 2018.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the United States welcomes Germany’s announcement that it would halt the regulatory approval process for Nord Stream 2, a controversial gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia, following Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

“@POTUS made clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 does not move forward,” Psaki said in a tweet. “We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement. We will be following up with our own measures today.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the announcement regarding the pipeline Tuesday after reports emerged that Russia has moved troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

During a visit to the White House this month, Scholz said Germany was “absolutely united” with the United States on potential responses to Russian aggression toward Ukraine but remained vague about steps his country was prepared to take on the pipeline.

Jonathan Finer, the White House principal deputy national security adviser, used the term “invasion” Tuesday to describe Russia’s deployment of troops into two pro-Russian separatist regions of Ukraine.

“We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine, and you’re already seeing the beginning of our response,” Finer said during a CNN interview in which he was pressed on whether the term is appropriate. He added that the White House would have more to say Tuesday about additional sanctions on Russia in response to the “egregious step they took yesterday away from diplomacy and down the further path toward war.”

His comments differed from those of Biden administration officials on Monday, when they sought to hit back at Russia’s aggressive action while stopping short of declaring that it had officially invaded Ukraine, which would trigger an array of hard-hitting sanctions that President Biden has been warning about for months.

Instead, the United States imposed a smaller set of sanctions prohibiting U.S. investment and trade specifically in the breakaway regions.

During the interview, Finer rejected any suggestion that there is a semantic difference between “invasion” and “beginning of an invasion.”

“An invasion is an invasion, and that is what’s underway,” he said.

“For the third or fourth time, I am calling it an invasion,” Finer said later in the interview.

In addition to the U.S. sanctions announced Monday, Finer also noted that Germany has announced it would halt the regulatory approval process for Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia, following Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine — Scores of Ukrainian service members gathered outside the country’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday morning for a somber ceremony honoring Capt. Anton Sydorov, 35, an intelligence officer who was killed in a shelling attack in the Donbas region on Feb. 19. He left behind three young daughters.

Six men in dress uniform carried Sydorov’s casket along the driveway in front of the ministry before lowering it onto a bier in front of his relatives and top Ukrainian officials, including Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. They then carefully draped the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag over his casket. Reznikov described him as a “warrior who defended his country.”

“Excuse us for what happened,” he said, addressing Sydorov’s family. “But we will not forget that. And we will not forgive either.”

Lt. Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, reflected on Sydorov’s “cheerful character, his thirst for life.”

“Most importantly, we will find the man who killed him,” he said. “And will terminate him.”

Oleksandr Levchenko, who previously served under Sydorov, said he expects difficult times ahead but vowed not to panic.

“I will be here [in Kyiv] until the very last moment,” he said. But, he added, “should it be needed, I will go to the east right away.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, in Washington on Tuesday as the United States and its allies prepare to step up their response to Russia’s recognition of two breakaway enclaves in eastern Ukraine and its move to send troops there in what could be a precursor to a wider invasion.

The two leaders spoke by phone Monday to discuss an executive order signed by President Biden blocking trade and investment by Americans in the separatist enclaves, along with additional measures set to be announced Tuesday, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Blinken wrote on Twitter that Russia’s move “to recognize the ‘independence’ of so-called republics controlled by its own proxies is a predictable, shameful act.”

Blinken also spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as Beijing continues to walk a tightrope of supporting Russia without explicitly endorsing its actions against Ukraine.

Wang said the legitimate security concerns of any country should be respected, according to a readout from Beijing. He also called on all parties involved to “exercise restraint” and resolve the crisis through negotiation, noting that the situation in Ukraine is “getting worse.”

LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is considering “a request” from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry to “sever diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”

“After the press conference, I will work on this issue,” he said. “And not only this question.”

Ukraine and Russia still maintain diplomatic and economic relations with each other, despite the eight-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv government forces and Kremlin-backed militants.

Ukraine officially refers to Russia as an “aggressor nation” but has stopped short of cutting off relations or declaring war, as this could trigger a full-scale Russian attack or deliver a significant blow to the country’s fragile economy.

But Zelensky also said that Ukrainian officials still believe that there would not be a “powerful escalation” in the conflict by Russia.

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday will announce sanctions on Russia, the bloc’s top diplomat said, although the timing and scope of the potential measures remain unclear.

For weeks, European officials have been warning of “massive” sanctions in the case of further Russian escalation. However, the bloc has been split on the question of what counts as an escalation and what the package should include.

After Russia formally recognized two breakaway enclaves in eastern Ukraine on Monday, European leaders promised swift and coordinated action. Their decision about what that might look like is expected after an emergency meeting of E.U. foreign ministers in Paris on Tuesday evening local time.

The big question is whether the bloc will immediately issue the type of comprehensive sanctions package it has been touting, or — as looks more likely — take a narrower, more incremental approach along the lines of what the United States has already announced.

President Biden on Monday issued an executive order that expanded on existing sanctions, blocking new U.S. investment, trade and property transactions in the two separatist enclaves. U.S. officials said more would be announced Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that Britain will also introduce “immediate” economic sanctions against Russia, saying a “first barrage” is on its way.