The United States and its European allies are set to announce fresh sanctions against Russia on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, deepening Western fears of a new war in Europe, according to Reuters.
The Ukrainian military said two soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in shelling by pro-Russian separatists in the east in the past 24 hours, the most casualties this year, as ceasefire violations increased.
Putin’s announcement on Monday, and his signing of a decree on the deployment of Russian troops to the two breakaway regions, drew international condemnation and immediate U.S. sanctions, with President Joe Biden signing an executive order to halt U.S. business activity in the breakaway regions.
Rising fears of war pushed oil prices to a seven-year high on Tuesday, while safe-havens currencies including the yen rallied and global stocks tumbled.
“The United States will impose sanctions on Russia for this clear violation of international law and Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters after an emergency meeting of the Security Council late on Monday.
A senior U.S. official said the deployment of Russian troops to the breakaway regions did not merit the harshest sanctions the United States and its allies had prepared in the event of a full-scale invasion, as Russia already had troops there.
A senior British government minister said it was clear Putin had chosen confrontation over dialogue and Britain would respond with sanctions.
“You can conclude that the invasion of Ukraine has begun,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.
Russia has denied planning to attack its neighbour but it has massed troops on Ukraine’s borders and threatened “military-technical” action unless it receives sweeping security guarantees, including that Ukraine will never join NATO.
Britain said it had drawn up sanctions to target those complicit in the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and those measures would come into force on Tuesday.
European Union member states’ ambassadors will meet to discuss possible sanctions with limited sanctions a possible option, an EU official said.