Imposing Sanctions Against Russian Elites And Banks, President Biden: We Will Defend Every Inch Of NATO Territory

United States President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russia's elite and two banks, as the West tries to halt an all-out invasion of Ukraine by punishing Moscow for ordering troops into the two separatist territories it has recognized.

The European Union, Germany, and Britain also announced ways they would hit Russia financially, as they feared further attacks were coming, a move Moscow has consistently resisted for months.

One of Europe's worst security crises in decades is underway, as Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Russian troops into eastern Ukraine to "maintain the peace."

Washington has dismissed it as 'nonsense', a justification for deploying troops to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions after Moscow recognized them as independent territories. Both border Russia and have been controlled by Russian-backed fighters since 2014.

Weeks of intense diplomacy have so far failed as Moscow calls for security guarantees, including promises by neighboring Ukraine never to join NATO. Meanwhile, NATO members offered Putin confidence-building and arms control measures.

"Simply put, Russia has just announced that they are carving out large parts of Ukraine," President Biden said Tuesday at the White House in Washington.

"He made excuses to take more territory by force. This was the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," President Biden stressed.

Responding to Russia not withdrawing its troops from Belarus to northern Ukraine, President Biden said he had allowed additional movement of US troops and equipment already in Europe to strengthen Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

"Let me be clear, this is really a defensive move on our part. We have no intention of going against Russia. We want to send a clear message, that the United States, along with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory," he said.

The sanctions were applied to the VEB bank and the Russian military bank, Promsvyazbank, which made defense deals, Biden said. From Wednesday, US sanctions will begin against the Russian elite and their family members.

The TASS news agency quoted Promsvyazbank as saying the sanctions would have no significant impact, having taken precautionary measures beforehand. Mexico, no further details.

The blow to Russia's sovereign debt means the Russian government will be cut off from Western financing, according to Biden.

Separately, President Putin did not watch President Biden's speech, with Russia first looking at what the United States has outlined before responding, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Earlier on Tuesday, Germany put the brakes on a new gas pipeline from Russia and Britain also hit Russian banks with sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the new measures as "illegitimate".

The European Union also approved new sanctions that would blacklist more politicians, lawmakers, and officials, bar EU investors from trading in Russian sovereign bonds, and target imports and exports with separatist entities.

For information, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously dismissed the threat of sanctions.

"Our colleagues in Europe, America, England will not stop and will not rest until they have exhausted all their possibilities for the so-called Russian punishment."