Just a few days ago, President Vladimir Putin has made his speech regarding the independence of east Ukraine. He also deployed Russian troops to these “independent” states for “peacekeeping” missions. However, the Ukrainian President did not acknowledge any of it saying their borders stay the same.

President Joe Biden announced its “first tranche” of sanctions. This includes two large financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt, and Russian elites and family members. They will be “cut off Russia’s government from Western finance.”

Additional US troops will also be deployed to strengthen the US allies on the Baltic nations. He did clarify that the troops will not be there to fight Russia.

“The United States and our allies and partners remain open to diplomacy if it is serious,” he said. “When all is said and done, we’re going to judge Russia by its actions, not its words.”
President Biden would still like to proceed with diplomatic solutions to the ongoing issues. He was also open to sharing his perspective regarding the acknowledgment of independence. He believes that Moscow was planning to redraw borders which violates international laws.

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors? This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community,” Biden said.

He viewed it as a beginning of an invasion so de does believe it is also the right time to give a response. There has been no additional response from Russia after President Putin’s speech.

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Russia orders troops to move in for peacekeeping missions in eastern Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin signed decrees for Russia-backed regions’ declaration of independence. Separatist-held eastern Ukraine is known to be backed by Moscow and could mark the beginning of the invasion.

The decrees that were signed recognize Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic (DPR and LPR). Both are independent states in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The decree also guarantees that Russian Troops will defend them.

Many US government officials stated that this could be the beginning of a huge military attack.

Vladimir Putin has made a speech on Monday regarding the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. He called the eastern part of Ukraine, “ancient Russian lands.”

“Russia has always tried to resolve all conflicts by peaceful means. Nevertheless, the Kyiv authorities conducted two punitive operations in these territories [Donetsk and Luhansk], and it seems that we are now witnessing an escalation for the third time,” Putin said.

Zelensky Remains Steadfast

President Zelensky of Ukraine does not recognize these declarations of independence. He added that Russia has violated Ukraine’s “national integrity and sovereignty” and their borders will “remain as such”. “We are on our land, we are not afraid of anything and anyone. We don’t owe anything to anyone, and we will not give away anything to anyone. And we are confident of this,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine has begun the meeting for the Normandy Four which includes Germany, Russia, and France.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed the Ukrainian government recognizing this move as an attack on sovereignty. US President Joe Biden signed an executive decree prohibiting any investment, trade, and financing on the ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.’

Both President Putin and President Biden have agreed to meet “in principle” to talk about deescalating the issue. Among the points, Russia is demanding is not to allow Ukraine to join NATO. The reason was to avoid NATO spreading its foothold at the Russian borders.

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Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin agree to meet if Russia does not attack Ukraine. The White House announced that the US president will attend the French-brokered summit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet on February 24. They will be discussing the details in advance.

“We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” Press Secretary John Psaki said.

The summit was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. He talked to both President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin back-to-back. His efforts are towards exploring every available pathway to avoid conflict.

“President Biden is prepared to engage President Putin at any time, in any format, if that can help prevent a war,” according to Blinken.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his opinion. He said that Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945.”

“I’m afraid to say, that the plan that we’re seeing, is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945,” he said. He added that “people need to understand that the sheer cost in human life that could entail not just for Ukrainians, but also for, for Russians and for young Russians.”

Satellite Images

Maxar has also released additional satellite photos showing that Russian troops are mounting and moving into position. “Multiple new field deployments of armored equipment and troops have been observed northwest of Belgorod and near Soloti and Valuyki, Russia “. These are places 35 kilometers away from the border.

“This new activity represents a change in the pattern of the previously observed deployments of battle groups (tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, and support equipment). Until recently, most of the deployments had been seen primarily positioned at or near existing military garrisons and training areas. Today (Sunday) most of the combat units and support equipment at Soloti have departed and extensive vehicle tracks and some convoys of armored equipment are seen throughout the area. Some equipment has also been deployed east of nearby Valuyki, Russia in a field approximately 15 kilometers north of the Ukraine border,” Maxar noted.

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Joe Biden says Russia will invade. “As of this moment, I am convinced he’s made the decision,” Biden said during his speech at the White House. He also added that they believe they will attack “in the coming week” or sooner. The target will be the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. He did emphasize that there is still room for diplomacy.

Biden will gather the national security team over the weekend and monitor any progress during the weekend. He will also remain in close contact with world leaders. His administration has disclosed several intelligence details on Russian troop movements. The reason he chose to do it is to say it “loudly and repeatedly, to remove any reason that Russia may give to justify invading Ukraine and prevent them from moving.”

Russia Refutes the Claims

“Make no mistake. If Russia pursues its plans, it will be responsible for a catastrophic and needless war of choice,” he added.

Mara Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson denied the claims Biden made. “The American president also repeated the unsubstantiated thesis about Russia’s alleged attempts to ‘attack’ Ukraine, threatening Moscow with sanctions in the event of an escalation. The Russian Federation categorically denies such statements and escalation plans attributed to it,” the Russian news agency said.

It is up to Ukraine

Biden stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must decide whether or not to attend the security summit in Germany this weekend. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to meet with Zelensky at the conference.

The US also released a statement regarding the recent cyber attacks on the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and two banks. “We believe that the Russian government is responsible for widescale cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks this week. We have technical information that links the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, as known GRU infrastructure was seen transmitting high volumes of communication to Ukraine based IP addresses and domains,” said Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology.

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The US claims that evidence shows that Russia is “moving towards an imminent invasion” despite Russia’s claim to withdraw. US officials including President Joe Biden believe that the attack will happen “in the next few days”.

“Every indication that we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine,” Biden said.

Russia however answer and said that these were “baseless accusations”.

Blinken suspects that Russia will generate a pretext of war. This could include fabricated terrorist bombing, the discovery of mass graves, or staged drone strikes. “Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide, making a mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly,” Blinken said.

“The information I presented here is validated by what we’ve seen unfolding in plain sight before our eyes for months,” Blinken said. “Remember that while Russia has repeatedly regarded our warnings as melodrama and nonsense. They’ve been steadily amassing more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.”

Russian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin, warned others about making the UN meeting a “circus,”. He said they should not present “baseless accusations saying that Russia allegedly was going to attack Ukraine.”

“We have long ago clarified everything and explained everything. And the announced date of this so-called invasion is behind us, so, therefore … my advice to you is [to] not present yourself in an awkward situation,” Vershinin said.

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