JAKARTA - The United States and its allies will respond in a united and decisive manner to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said after explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
"President (Vladimir) Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will cost lives and human suffering," Biden said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
"Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction that this attack will cause. The world will hold Russia accountable," he stressed.
President Biden said he would announce on Thursday further measures to be imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies. The White House said President Biden would speak in the afternoon.
President Biden's remarks came shortly after President Putin told Russian state TV he had authorized military operations in eastern Ukraine and explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the breakaway city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
President Biden said he would monitor the situation from the White House, before meeting virtually with his Group of Seven (G7) counterparts on Thursday morning.
Then, he said, he would "speak to the American people to announce the further consequences the United States and our allies and partners will impose on Russia for this act of unnecessary aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security."
In addition, President Biden said Washington would also coordinate with NATO allies "to ensure a strong and unified response that deters any aggression against the alliance."
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized special military operations in the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning and told the Ukrainian military to lay down its weapons and go home.
In a special televised address on Russian state TV, President Putin said Russia had no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from modern Ukraine.
The Russian leader said Moscow had no choice but to launch the operation, the scope of which was not immediately clear.
"I have decided to carry out a special military operation," said President Putin.
"The aim is to protect people who have been subjected to intimidation and genocide over the past eight years. And for this we will fight for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."
"And to bring to justice those who committed many bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation," he stressed.
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