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PremiumOne of the worst security crises in Europe in decades is unfolding as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered soldiers into Donetsk and Luhansk to "keep the peace." Washington has dismissed that as "nonsense".
Western nations on Tuesday punished Russia with new sanctions for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine and threatened to go further if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its neighbour.
The United States, the European Union, Canada and Britain announced plans to target banks and elites while Germany halted a major gas pipeline project from Russia, which they say has amassed more than 150,000 troops near Ukraine's borders. Moscow has denied planning an invasion.
Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday imposed a national state of emergency aimed at helping forge a response to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The measure was overwhelmingly approved on the same day that Moscow began to evacuate its Kyiv embassy and Washington stepped up its warnings about the chances of an all-out Russian attack.
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States will join Germany in imposing sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project in retaliation for Moscow's mounting military pressure against Ukraine.
The targeting of Nord Stream 2 -- one of energy-rich Russia's highest-profile geostrategic initiatives -- adds to Western sanctions announced by the United States and European allies this week against two Russian banks, several oligarchs and other measures.
The UN chief and Ukraine's foreign minister told the General Assembly in New York Wednesday that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia would have a devastating global impact.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the body that "our world is facing a moment of peril" over Ukraine's crisis with Russia.
"If the conflict in Ukraine expands, the world could see a scale and severity of need unseen for many years," he said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told representatives of the finance industry, regulators and trade associations on Wednesday he wanted the toughest possible next tranche of sanctions against Russia, a government source said.
A Ukrainian soldier died Wednesday in a shelling attack near the frontline with the Moscow-backed separatist east, the armed forces said, as fears mount of a Russian invasion.
Ukraine's army did not specify the location of the attack, saying only that one soldier "suffered fatal injuries" and another was wounded in the shelling.
Nine Ukrainian soldiers have died since the beginning of the year, with six of them killed in intensifying clashes over the past four days, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
The government confirmed an Interfax report that its websites came under attack.
Several government websites as well as some banks faced a DDOS attack around 4 p.m. local time, the Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said on social network Telegram.
Ukraine has faced two waves of cyberattacks since late January. The most recent, last week, hit the country’s largest banks, which restored operations in full within a few hours. The Feb. 15 DDOS-attack was the largest in Ukraine’s history and the U.S and the U.K said Russia was behind it.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly Wednesday that the world is "facing a moment of peril" over Ukraine's crisis with Russia.
"If the conflict in Ukraine expands, the world could see a scale and severity of need unseen for many years," he warned the body.
The European Central Bank is reaching out to banks in the eurozone to assess their exposure to risk from Russia, it said Wednesday as the West threatened further sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
"The ECB is closely monitoring the situation, and is in close contact with supervised banks and national competent authorities," the bank told AFP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin can do a lot more damage in Ukraine and the United States is prepared to respond by withholding technology and resources if he does, deputy U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Wednesday.
"We're gonna cut him off from Western technology that's critical to advancing the military, cut him off from Western financial resources that will be critical for feeding his economy and also to enriching himself," Adeyemo said in an interview with CNBC.
Russia said Wednesday that new US sanctions will meet a "strong response" after US President Joe Biden announced fresh penalties against Moscow for "beginning" an invasion of Ukraine.
"There should be no doubt -- sanctions will meet a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-calibrated and sensitive for the American side," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that Washington had slapped a new round of sanctions in order to "change Russia's course."
Britain has asked the media regulator to review the broadcast licence of Russian news channel RT after the Kremlin recognised two rebel regions of eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
Russia began evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, its embassy in Kyiv told AFP, a day after lawmakers in Moscow granted President Vladimir Putin to use force abroad.
Asked if the evacuation had begun, the embassy's spokesman Denis Golenko told AFP by phone: "Yes." Moscow's foreign ministry announced Tuesday it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon.
Britain will provide further military support to Ukraine, including lethal defensive weapons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
"In light of the increasingly threatening behaviour from Russia and in line with our previous support, the UK will shortly be providing a further package of military support to Ukraine. This will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons and non-lethal aid," Johnson told parliament.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is highly likely to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attack Kyiv, UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss said Wednesday.
The UK and US have repeatedly over the last weeks cited intelligence as indicating that Russia is planning an invasion of Ukraine.
"We think it's highly likely that he (Putin) will follow through on his plan for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine", Truss told Sky News.
A first, limited round of European Union sanctions on Russia will take effect on Wednesday, an EU diplomat said, blacklisting more politicians and banning trade between the EU and two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine's top security official Oleksiy Danilov said on Wednesday that Ukraine would impose a state of emergency on all of its territory, apart from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions where it has been in place since 2014.
He said that the emergency state would last 30 days and could be extended for another 30 days.
Japan said Wednesday it will impose sanctions on Russia and individuals linked to Ukrainian regions controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists, after Moscow ordered troops into the rebel "republics".
The decision follows similar measures by the United States, Britain and the European Union.
Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday approved imposing sanctions on 351 Russians, including lawmakers who supported the recognition of the independence of separatist-controlled territories and the use of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
The sanctions restrict almost all possible types of activities, in particular a ban on entry into Ukraine, prohibit access to assets, capital, property, licenses for business. The security council was due to impose the sanctions after the vote.
- We'll impose travel bans and targeted financial sanctions on eight members of Russia’s Security Council. It'll mean Australian individuals or entities can't do business with Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank, IS Bank, Genbank & Black Sea Bank for Development & Reconstruction, says Australia's Foreign Minister.
- This is in addition to restrictions on Australians investing in the state development bank VEB, says Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne.
- She added, “We'll amend Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 to extend existing sanctions that apply to Crimea & Sevastopol to Donetsk & Luhansk. It'll impose economic sanctions in Donetsk & Luhansk prohibiting trade in transport, energy, telecom, oil, gas & minerals sectors."
The Ukrainian military issued an order to mobilise reservists on Wednesday after Russia ordered its forces to prepare to secure rebel-held areas in the country's east.
"Reservists aged 18 to 60 will be called up... The call will start today. The maximum service life is one year," Ukrainian Ground Forces said, in a Facebook message.
Ukraine on Wednesday urged its citizens to leave Russia immediately, citing the threat of a Russian invasion that could complicate the provision of consular services.
"Because of the escalating Russian aggression against Ukraine, which can lead to a substantial reduction in possible consular assistance in Russia, the foreign ministry urges the citizens of Ukraine to refrain from travel to Russia, and for those in that country to leave its territory immediately," the ministry said.
Taiwan is nervous that Beijing may take advantage of a distracted West to ramp up pressure on the island amid the crisis in Ukraine, but there have been no unusual manoeuvres by Chinese forces in recent days, officials in Taipei say.
The government, always on alert to what they view as Chinese provocations, last month set up a Ukraine working group under the National Security Council. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military activity near the self-governing island during the past two years.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. would impose a first wave of sanctions on Russia and is shifting American forces already based in Europe, and a meeting between the top U.S. and Russian diplomats was canceled. Biden’s announcement followed earlier sanctions after the European Union and the U.K. set out an initial set of limited penalties targeting Moscow.
Air India special flight AI 1946 landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Ukraine's Boryspil airport with over 240 Indian citizens on Tuesday night amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
"Air India special flight AI-1946 landed at Delhi airport with around 242 passengers at 2330 Hrs," an Air India official told ANI.
No Russian financial institution can feel safe if the "invasion" of Ukraine proceeds, with the United States standing ready to take further action against the largest Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB, a senior US administration official told a press briefing.
“We are united in our support of Ukraine," Biden said. “We are united in our opposition to Russian aggression." When it comes to Russian claims of a justification or pretext for an invasion, Biden said, “None of us should be fooled. None of us will be fooled. There is no justification."
Canada will deploy up to 460 additional troops to Eastern Europe amid escalating tensions following Russia's recognition of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Satellite imagery over the past 24 hours shows several new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia and more than 100 vehicles at a small airfield in southern Belarus, which borders Ukraine, according to U.S. firm Maxar.
