US President Joe Biden has announced a series of sanctions against Russia, a day after President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize the separatist regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent states and ordered the deportation. of troops there.

“The United States believes that Russia is a clear aggressor in tensions with Ukraine,” Biden said in a White House speech.

According to him, Putin’s decision is a violation of international law.

“Two financial institutions, the VEB and the Military Bank of Russia, now face sanctions. “Further sanctions are expected against the Russian elite and their families,” Biden said.

He also said that some parts of the Russian economy will be disconnected from international financial systems.

Earlier, European Union member states also approved the imposition of sanctions on some Russian officials for interfering in Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the package would “hurt Russia and hurt it a lot.”

According to him, the sanctions will affect members of the lower house of the Russian Parliament and individuals involved in approving the deployment of Russian troops in separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

Borrell said the sanctions would also affect Russia’s Ukraine-related fiscal policies.

Earlier, the United Kingdom also announced some sanctions against Russia, while Germany announced that it has suspended the certification process of the “North Stream 2” pipeline. The pipeline was intended to send Russian gas directly to Germany.

Russia has been under Western sanctions since illegally annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. At the time, it had also begun supporting a separatist movement in eastern Ukraine.

On February 21, Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The two self-proclaimed popular republics are controlled by pro-Russian separatists, who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Putin ordered Russian troops to carry out, as he put it, “peacekeeping functions” in both regions.

Before signing the decree, Putin addressed his nation with a speech in which he described Ukraine as a “US colony with a puppet regime.”

He said that “Ukraine has never had a tradition of true statehood” and that modern Ukraine was “created” by Russia.

Biden said that in his speech, Putin attacked “Ukraine’s right to exist.”

He said he has been in constant contact with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

“We are united in our support for Ukraine. We are united in our opposition to Russian aggression. “We are united in our determination to defend the NATO alliance.”

He said he did not intend to fight Russia, but vowed to defend every inch of NATO territory.

The current crisis started at the end of last year, when Russia began to accumulate troops on the border with Ukraine.

Russia has long opposed Ukraine’s move towards NATO and European Union institutions.

She has sought assurances from NATO that she will stop eastward expansion. The US and NATO have rejected the Russian request, but have offered diplomatic channels to resolve the crisis.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but it has been its “partner country” since 2008 – the year it applied for the Membership Action Plan. This means that she may be allowed to join the alliance in the future.

Putin said on February 21 that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would pose a threat to Russian security. / REL