The United Kingdom and the European Union have announced they will be imposing new sanctions on Russia following Vladimir Putin’s announcement asserting that two regions of Eastern Ukraine are independent states, and his deploying additional troops to “keep the peace” in the Donbas.
The two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk — variously described in the establishment media, shaping perceptions to Russia’s benefit, as ‘breakaway’ republics, peopled with ‘pro-Russian separatists’ — in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine which has seen fighting between Russian proxies and the Ukrainians since 2014. During the same year, when now-President Joe Biden served as vice president in the Obama administration, Russia also annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea and has illegally occupied the territory to this day.
On Monday evening, following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Sholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced that his government would recognise the sovereignty of the “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Mr Putin argued that Ukraine is nothing more than a “creation” of Russia that has since become a “colony” of the West, claiming that Ukrainians do not live under an actual democracy, but rather under a government controlled by “a network of foreign consultants and NGOs”.
Leaders in both the United Kingdom and the European Union swiftly announced their intentions to levy further sanctions against Russia over what they deem as an act of aggression, though stopping short — like the Biden administration — of accusing the Russians of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, despite the invasion having been underway since 2014.
Late Monday evening, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss said: “Tomorrow we will be announcing new sanctions on Russia in response to their breach of international law and attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
On Monday morning, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that “the invasion of Ukraine has begun,” continuing: “We are waking up to a very dark day in Europe. It’s clear from what we have already seen and found out today that Russia’s President Putin has decided to attack the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity.”
Following a meeting of the government’s emergency COBRA committee, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the “first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia” will be announced on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister, who is set to brief the House of Commons on the Ukrainian situation on Tuesday, added: “I’m afraid all the evidence is that President Putin is indeed bent on a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine, the overrunning, the subjugation of an independent, sovereign European country and I think, let’s be absolutely clear, that will be absolutely catastrophic.”
In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Johnson said that on top of sanctions, the UK would “explore sending further defensive support to Ukraine”. It is unclear if such support would come in the form of British soldiers, some of whom are already in the country in a training capacity.
The launching of sanctions after Russia has begun moving more troops into Ukrainian territory is at odds with Ukraine’s own pleas on best practice, predominantly that sanctions applied in the wake of territorial grabs are already too late. This view, frequently articulated by Ukraine’s Zelensky, is substantiated somewhat by Russia’s ongoing occupation of the Crimea since 2014, a fact that has not changed despite all the sanctions levied by the West on Russia since.
Zelenksy said in December: “Some leaders suggest a format of responding format […] after a possible escalation on the part of Russia to introduce a strong sanctions policy[…] Here, it seems to me that we were able to explain to our European colleagues that the sanctions policy following [such escalation] won’t matter to anyone.”
The European Union, for its part, is also expected to announce a range of sanctions on Tuesday, with the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, saying that he expects a “unanimous decision” from EU member states on the sanctions.
“Russian troops have entered Donbas. We consider Donbas part of Ukraine,” Borrell said. “I would not say it is a fully-fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil.”
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “The recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements.
“The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness and with determination in solidarity with Ukraine.”
After speaking with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Europan Council President Charles Michel said: “The EU stands by you firmly and fully supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Russia’s move is an attack against international law and the rules-based international order.”
Like the EU’s top diplomat, the Biden administration has also stopped short of classifying the movement of additional Russian troops into the separatist regions as an actual invasion, with a White House official telling reporters on Monday evening: “Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step… Russia has had forces in the Donbas region for the past eight years.”
This, however, is seemingly a contradiction of previous statements from the Democrat administration, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying in January: “If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that’s a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies.”
In a statement, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs called for the imposition of “harsh sanctions” to be levied against Russia in order to “send a clear signal of inadmissibility of further escalation.
“The time has come to act in order to stop Russian aggression and restore peace and stability in Europe.”
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative Sergiy Kyslytsia said: “We demand that Russia cancel the decision on recognition and return to the table of negotiations.”
Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Russia is still “open to diplomacy,” and that Moscow does not desire “a new bloodbath in Donbas.”
Downplaying the prospect of additional sanctions from the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday: “Well, we’re used to it. We know that sanctions will be imposed anyway, in any case. With or without reason.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka