Even today (Wednesday) tensions on the Ukrainian border continue to be high, and a state of emergency has been declared in Ukraine for fear of a Russian invasion. At the same time, the Russian embassy in Kiev was evacuated on the orders of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and after reports of burning of documents in the embassy building and the diplomatic mission in Odessa.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Trauss said this morning in an interview with British Sky News that “if Putin decides to escalate, we will also add more sanctions that will hurt the Russian economy.” She went on to say that “Putin is likely to invade Kiev as well.”
The United States has informed President Zalanski that Russia intends to launch an attack within 48 hours, and will include an air strike, paratroopers and even cyber attacks.
According to reports in Ukraine, in recent hours several government sites have collapsed and a suspicion has been investigated that this is a Russian cyber attack.
Meanwhile, after yesterday (Tuesday) the West imposed sanctions on Russia, the next phase is now being planned, and the Russian Defense Minister is also in the crosshairs.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army has decided to recruit 36,000 reservists for defense against a possible Russian invasion – with over 150,000 Russian soldiers reportedly standing at the border.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson said at a sitting of Parliament today that his government would present “another package of sanctions against Russia; we will provide defense weapons to Ukraine”.
Russia has responded to sanctions imposed on them, saying “Russia will respond harshly to sanctions imposed by the United States.”
As you may recall, yesterday the President of the United States announced the first “imposition of sanctions” and sent a warning message to Putin.
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“Yesterday Putin recognized separatists as independent states,” the president began. “Today he is sending forces to areas he knew, this is the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion.”
“These are serious violations of international law,” he warned, adding: “Today I am announcing the first sanctions, we will continue to impose more if Russia continues,” .
“We have no intention of fighting Russia,” he stressed, but “we will impose sanctions that will keep Russia away from any Western funding, protect freedom and charge a price – we will make sure that this confrontation hurts the Russian economy, not ours.” He concluded by saying, “We and our allies are open to diplomacy – if the Russians are serious.”
Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that “Britain is about to impose sanctions on five Russian banks and three ‘particularly rich’ Russian people.” He went on to say that “Britain’s determination to protect NATO allies is absolute and unmovable” and that “Putin’s initiative against Ukraine must fail, and we will make sure it fails”.