US President Joe Biden has announced new sanctions against Russia, saying Moscow’s independent recognition of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine is the beginning of a Russian offensive.
The US has criticized Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and authorize the deployment of Russian troops under the guise of maintaining peace in the region.
The US sanctions have targeted Russia’s sovereign debt and two of the country’s financial institutions, including Russia’s military bank.
These sanctions mean that Russia will no longer be able to raise funds from Western and European markets.
The Russian government recognized the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic as independent territories and signed an agreement with them to establish a military presence in the eastern part of Ukraine. The US has defined the agreement as the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine and thus imposed sanctions on Russia.
Following Russia’s agreements with Luhansk and Donetsk, along with the US, other European countries have also imposed sanctions on Russia. Approval of Nord Stream 2, a US$11 billion gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, has been halted in Germany. The UK has imposed sanctions against five Russian banks and three Russian billionaires.
Since 2013, tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated over a trade and historic deal that Ukraine made with the European Union. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea under the pretext of protecting its national integrity. Russia had asked Ukraine to join the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), which Ukraine rejected. Since then, Ukraine has been moving towards NATO which Russia has been opposing and Russia regards as an extension of NATO. Russia believes that this move will affect Russia’s borders. All this has given rise to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
