Nagpur: US President Joe Biden on Tuesday while reacting to the Russia-Ukraine conflict announced sanctions that will cut Russia off from the Western financing.
Biden, while addressing the nation from the White House, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of violating international law and called it ‘beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.’ He said, “We’re imposing sanctions on 2 Russian financial institutions. Russia can no longer raise money from the West or no longer trade in Western markets. From tomorrow we’ll also impose sanctions on Russian elites and their families.”
The US President also promised that more sanctions would be coming in if Putin decided to invade further. He also emphasized that the US will be sending in more troops to protect Ukraine from any kind of threat from Russia and will defend every inch of NATO territory.
Ukraine and Russia- What’s the history?
30 years ago, Ukraine gained independence, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Since then the country has struggled to combat corruption and bridge the internal divisions. Tensions rose between the two nations when Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych rejected an agreement with the European Union back in 2013. The agreement was in favour of closer ties with Moscow. Turning down the agreement saw a large number of protests which led to overthrowing him as the leader in 2014.
Following the crisis in 2014, the Russian troops saw the opportunity and took control of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Three years later, in 2017, the Ukraine and European Union signed an agreement for opening markets for free trade of goods and services as well as visa-free travel for Ukrainians across all EU nations.
What does Russia want from Ukraine?
The power-hungry Russia sees North Atlantic Alliance (NATO’s) support to Ukraine as a threat to itself and that’s the reason why Moscow is against Kyiv joining the NATO. Another demand by Moscow stated to halt any NATO drills near Russia’s border and also wants the international organization to withdraw its forces from the Eastern Europe.
US President Joe Biden had earlier said that if Russia invades Ukraine, there will be severe consequences and will be sending in their troops. Meanwhile, on the other hand, China has extended full support to the Putin-led Russian government.
