EU nations unanimously approve Russian sanctions
BRUSSELS (AP) — Shocked by Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to deploy troops to separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, world leaders moved quickly Tuesday to impose as forceful a response as possible in hopes of averting a full-blown war in Europe.
Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow, but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.
The rest of the European Union soon followed, with a first set of sanctions taking aim at Duma legislators who voted in favor of recognizing separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as several Russian officials. They also sought to limit Moscow's access to EU capital and financial markets.
"This package of sanctions … will hurt Russia and it will hurt a lot," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Paris.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went as far as naming five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals who the UK hit with sanctions on Tuesday.
The United States was moving closer to sanctions too, with the White House calling Russia's troop deployments an "invasion" — a red line that President Joe Biden has said would result in heavy U.S. sanctions against Moscow. Action could follow later Tuesday.
And if Putin pushes further into Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the West would move in lockstep. "If Russia decides once again to use force against Ukraine, there will be even stronger sanctions, even a higher price to pay," he said.
The West insisted Putin's bold moves in Ukraine violated countless international agreements and since diplomacy has failed, it was time to move towards action.
Western powers have long made clear the fate of Ukraine wasn't worth a direct military confrontation with Russia and the potential of a world war, so sanctions were the only, limited, option to channel their anger.
"No lows too low, no lies too blatant, no red lines too red to cross," Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in summing up the political disgust felt by nations from Europe to North America and the democracies hugging Russia's borders in Asia like Japan and South Korea.
However, Putin continued to knock the world off-kilter with a strategy where confusion about the true extent of an invasion, which would automatically kick in major sanctions, remained unclear and debatable.