A ‘strong condemnation’, economic sanctions for the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and a temporary relocation of the US embassy from Ukraine to Poland. Those were the first reactions from the US administration on Monday after President Putin announced that Russian troops would move into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on the pretext of a peacekeeping mission.
“We will be announcing other measures very soon,” the White House spokesman said Monday evening, denouncing the raid as a “blatant violation of Russia’s international obligations.” One word was missing from the response from both the White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken: invasion.
The White House “Struggles” according to The Washington Post with the question of whether the Russian troop movements on Ukrainian territory, reported by various media, should be considered an invasion. In recent weeks, both President Biden and Secretary Blinken have repeatedly predicted that Russia would definitely invade Ukraine. But on Monday, the word did not fall. The White House spokesman said: “Make no mistake, these measures are separate from and in addition to rapid and severe economic sanctions that we have prepared with our allies and partners in case Russia invades further into Ukraine.”
American analysts and (former) diplomats continued to cling to this latter formulation and urged stricter countermeasures. “Russia has invaded Ukraine,” wrote former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul Monday on Twitter† Russia expert at the Center for Naval Analyses, Michael Kofman, called the raid “the first step in what is likely to culminate in a large-scale Russian operation to overthrow the Ukrainian government.”
KofmanMichael Michael Kofman Russia doesn’t need 190k troops on Ukraine’s borders to recognize the independence of separatist republics. These troops are not even near the Donbas. This is the first step in what will likely be a large-scale Russian mil operation to impose regime change.
Politicians want tougher sanctions
Democratic and (some) Republican politicians pushed for tougher sanctions. “Destroy the ruble and crush the Russian oil and gas industry,” suggested Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. In a statement Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote that “the Biden administration and our European allies should not hesitate to impose crushing economic sanctions.”
But some Republican members of the same Senate committee are trying to put the blame for the escalation of the crisis on President Biden, with his “implausible strategy,” such as Senator Ted Cruz wrote† Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that “American weakness always endangers our friends and our interests.”
Also read: Americans positive about Biden’s move in Ukraine crisis: ‘a fascinating way to use intelligence’
Putin’s speech announcing the invasion has been interpreted in America as an announcement of violence that will not end at Donbas or even at Ukraine’s borders. According to former ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, a stronger response than Monday evening is therefore necessary. “Otherwise, Putin thinks the US is a paper tiger,” he says by phone NRC† First, he said, more troops should be sent to Europe’s eastern border. “So far individual member states have done that, but now NATO should do that as an organization.”
Furthermore, the US should target heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, not just the breakaway parts of Ukraine. “Who knows,” says Herbst, “maybe we’ll see some real action tomorrow morning. boom! But if this phase drags on until Wednesday, that’s not good. If this remains our only response, then Foreign Minister Blinken should not meet his Russian counterpart Lavrov on Thursday. Then he might as well crawl inside on his knees. These first sanctions are a mockery.”
In his speech on Monday, Putin characterized the US sanctions he had been promised as “blackmail”. He said the US would impose those sanctions “anyhow, regardless of what happens in Ukraine”.