| The United States and the European Union moved with speed on Monday to sanction Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s theatrical, televised decision to violate international law to claim two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine as independent (The Associated Press). Russian troops immediately crossed into Ukraine on Putin’s orders to “recognize” the two territories (The New York Times). President Biden quickly issued an executive order that bars investment, trade and financial transactions with the two regions. The president spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following a meeting with his national security team at the White House and discussed the situation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who have spoken with Putin in recent days as part of intense U.S.-NATO diplomatic efforts to try to avert Russia’s aggression against its democratic neighbor, a nation of 44 million people (The Hill). > Text of the president’s executive order and U.S. Treasury Department notification. Today, Russia adopted new legislation that would approve the deployment of troops into the Ukraine rebel regions and called on the world to “follow” its efforts to unilaterally declare rebel regions of Ukraine as liberated or independent from the country’s borders. The Russian legislation could be a pretext for a long-term strategy by the Kremlin to hold the Ukraine territory militarily and to stage expansion operations from there (The Associated Press). As the United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting on Monday, the White House emphasized that the U.S. sanctions issued by the president were separate from the “painful” punishments that Biden and Western powers have pledged in the event of an attack by Russia on Ukraine. The Kremlin’s military move into separatist regions did not trigger those broader sanctions. The United States called Putin’s speech “an attack on the very idea of a sovereign and independent Ukraine,” but the West held back from reacting to Monday’s events as a full-blown invasion.U.N. representatives denounced Russia late on Monday, arguing its breach of international law risks war (The New York Times). Putin’s flagrant decision to defy the West to try to redraw the post-Cold War boundaries of Europe and force Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit is viewed as an illegal attempt to change the post-World War II security structure in Europe. Putin’s ultimate aims and strategy are murky; Moscow on Monday called Russia’s military march across Ukraine’s sovereign border “peacekeeping functions.” The United Nations did not treat Monday’s events as a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Separatists operating in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics welcomed Russian forces and declarations of independence with flags and fireworks (pictured below), but neither Ukraine nor the rest of the world views the breakaway territories as anything but parts of Ukraine, the Times reported. As the West learned in 2014 with Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the international sanctions that followed, Putin, 69, is willing to ignore Western condemnations, weather economic punishments and play a long game of nationalistic dominance. The Associated Press: Analysis: Putin’s take on history may lay groundwork for war. 
© Associated Press/Alexei Alexandrov The U.S. sanctions issued on Monday are intended to spare ordinary Ukrainians, now turning to the West for help and protection. “The E.O. is designed to prevent Russia from profiting off of this blatant violation of international law,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “It is not directed at the people of Ukraine or the Ukrainian government and will allow humanitarian and other related activity to continue in these regions” (The Hill). Opting for sanctions also means that the window to reach a resolution through diplomacy has narrowed, if it hasn’t closed completely. Until Sunday, the White House pushed for a diplomatic solution even as Biden expressed skepticism that Putin would be deterred. The West Wing had agreed “in principle” to a potential Biden-Putin summit as long as Moscow did not invade Ukraine. Such a meeting, never officially embraced by the Kremlin, appeared unlikely in the near term (CNN). Axios: U.S. suggests Putin's “peacekeepers” won't trigger “massive” invasion sanctions. BBC: United Kingdom to announce “significant” new sanctions on Russia. AFP: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, president of a country that has been a NATO member since 1952, today rejected Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s two regions as “unacceptable.” Russia is among Turkey’s largest trading partners and its largest provider of energy. The Associated Press: Nations in Asia and across the globe condemned Russia’s actions and signaled possible sanctions. China, an ally that shares a border with Russia, sounded a cautious note, calling for restraint and a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The New York Times: Wooing allies, publicizing Putin’s plans: Inside Biden’s race to prevent war. Niall Stanage: The Memo: Biden braces for impact as Russia moves to the brink. Talk of punishing Russia quickly moved through Capitol Hill on Monday, although Congress is out of Washington this week. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) labeled Moscow’s action “an act of unprovoked aggression and a brazen violation of international law” and an “attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty.” “To be clear, if any additional Russian troops or proxy forces cross into Donbas, the Biden administration and our European allies must not hesitate in imposing crushing sanctions,” Menendez said in a statement. “There must be tangible, far-reaching and substantial costs for Russia in response to this unjustified act.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) went a step further, calling on the administration to impose “immediate and mandatory sanctions” to end the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Europe, a call echoed by Zelensky. The Washington Post: Members of Congress, advised in writing of Biden’s actions, vowed support for Ukraine. The situation also comes at a politically perilous time for Biden. Since the end of summer, his presidency has been roiled by tumult, including rising inflation, low job approval numbers, national divisions related to the pandemic, and the death of his $2 trillion Build Back Better social spending and climate agenda, to name a few setbacks. Next week, Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address. He had hoped to focus voters’ attention on his domestic aims, his narrative about America’s rebounding economy and his nominee to the Supreme Court. Putin’s actions scramble the script. According to a recent CBS News poll, 53 percent of Americans said they thought the U.S. should stay out of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with 43 percent saying the U.S. should side with Ukraine. Only 4 percent said the U.S. should back Russia. NBC News: U.S. officials discussed a plan with Ukraine’s president to relocate close to the Polish border in western Ukraine if Russia attacks. The New York Times: What’s at stake for the global economy as conflict looms in Ukraine? The Washington Post: The Biden administration weighs measures to stabilize gas prices if Russian hostilities over Ukraine send costs skyrocketing. The Associated Press: Gas prices rising amid Russia-Ukraine crisis. 
© Associated Press/Evgeniy Maloletka | 
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