WASHINGTON – The White House promised additional actions in response to Russia’s decision to recognize the “independence” of two separatist regions in Ukraine, but would not say whether troop movements there would trigger the massive package of sanctions President Joe Biden said would answer a further invasion.
“Russian troops moving into Donbas by itself would not be a new step,” a senior administration official said Monday on condition of anonymity, following reports that Russian troops were crossing the border into eastern Ukraine.
The official said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s decision to offer military protection to pro-Russian separatists would get a further response Tuesday, beyond the sanctions the White House announced Monday to punish anyone doing business with the two enclaves.
“We will take further action tomorrow to hold Russia accountable,” the official said. He would not specify further about what the action would be.
Russia has for years denied that it had forces in eastern Ukraine, but now appears to be doing so openly, the official said. “There have been Russian forces in these areas throughout,” the official said, adding the United States would be monitoring events in the coming hours to see how far Putin goes. “We will observe and assess what actions Russia actually takes and respond.”
In a lengthy speech on Monday, Putin announced his decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states ― an action the Biden administration considers an escalation of the Russian leader’s moves to surround Ukraine by some 190,000 forces in recent weeks.
“This was a speech to the Russian people to justify war,” the official said. “This is Potemkin politics, President Putin accelerating the conflict that he created.”
In 2014, Putin also invaded and annexed Crimea from its neighbor, which gained independence during the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.