Russia’s sudden announcement late on Monday to declare the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent regions caught the US and its NATO allies off-guard. The US and NATO allies earlier warned that Russia may start a false-flag operation and use it as a pretext to invade Ukraine.
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The US said that it will announce economic sanctions on Tuesday as a retaliatory move to Moscow’s decisions. The US has called Putin’s move a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The US also said that it will pursue diplomatic solutions until the ‘Russian tanks start rolling’. A senior US official familiar with the developments told news agency AFP that Russian forces moving in on Donbass is not new given that Ukraine’s neighbours have directly supported the pro-Russian rebels.
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“Russian troops moving into Donbass would not be a new step. We’ll continue to pursue diplomacy until the tanks roll. We are going to assess what Russia’s done,” the official was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
The US has already announced sanctions on Donetsk and Luhansk. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that US president Biden has signed an agreement prohibiting new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in the so-called Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika (DNR) and Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika (LNR) regions of Ukraine.
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The US in a rare attempt also tried to pull China closer. US secretary of state Antony Blinken dialed his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and urged China to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “I spoke with the People’s Republic of China State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. I underscored the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Blinken tweeted.
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During the UN security council meeting, the US said that Russians have torn the Minsk Peace deal into shreds with their new announcement. US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the US believes that Putin will further escalate the tensions and recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk will not be the last step he will take.
The Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 aimed at stopping the fighting and finding a political settlement in eastern Ukraine.
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