US President Joe Biden said in a White House address last night that there was still time through diplomacy to prevent the “worst-case scenario” of a bloody full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“There is no doubt that Russia is an aggressor, so we are aware of the challenges we face,” Biden said.

“However, there is still time to prevent the worst-case scenario that will bring indescribable suffering to millions of people if we act on the proposals of diplomacy.”

The United States will continue to supply Ukraine with “defensive” weapons against the Russian invasion and will deploy more US troops to reinforce NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

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“I have allowed additional US forces and equipment already deployed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” Biden said.

“Let me be clear, these are entirely defensive actions on our part.”

Biden also announced a so-called “first tranche” of sanctions against Russia, including steps to deprive the country of funding.

“We are imposing sanctions on Russia's public debt. That means we have cut off the Russian government from Western funding,” Biden said.

The measures will be aimed at both financial institutions and Russia's “elite,” the US leader said.

“This is the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to send troops deep into the Donbas region.

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The United Kingdom does not rule out the possibility of new sanctions against Russia if the conflict in Ukraine escalates. The warning was issued by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who assured that London has a “long list” of people close to the Russian leadership who are allegedly involved in such actions.

“We and our allies have repeatedly stated that any further invasion will have serious consequences. Now Russia has decided to put diplomacy aside and we have the moral right to show solidarity with Ukraine and demonstrate that when we say something, we mean it seriously,” Truss wrote in a column published today in the Times.

“We have imposed our strictest sanctions regime on Russia. Nothing can be ruled out. The first wave of [restrictions] is aimed at individuals and companies closest to the Kremlin,” the British Foreign Secretary said.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson announced that London would freeze the assets of Russia Bank, Promsvyazbank, the Industrial Savings Bank, Genbank and the Black Sea Development Bank. Gennady Timchenko and Boris and Igor Rotenberg were personally punished. Johnson was then criticized by both Conservative and opposition party members for imposing too lenient sanctions on Russia.

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Truss assured that the British government “has a long list of those who are complicit in the actions of the Russian leadership.” The minister reiterated that London would impose sanctions on Russian lawmakers who voted to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), and would ban all business with those territories. In the event of an escalation, it threatened to ban the export of high-tech products to Russia, impose sanctions on Russia's public debt and trade in an attempt to isolate Russia from the world economy.

Strict economic sanctions against Russia and individual Russian oligarchs have been announced by EU countries, Canada, Japan and Australia.

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For its part, Russia's foreign ministry has called on other countries to follow suit and recognize the rebel regimes in eastern Ukraine.

So far, only Nicaragua and Syria have said they support Moscow's decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, although it is unclear whether they will follow suit.

No other country has so far recognized the self-proclaimed people's republics - although another Russian-backed breakaway region, South Ossetia, backed the separatists in 2015.

The Cuban Communist government has accused the West of waging a “propaganda war” against Moscow.

/BGNES

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