White House says it will sanction Putin; Russia making ‘limited progress’: LIVE UPDATES
It’s war: Russia launched a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine, targeting Kyiv, attacking the second-largest city Kharkov, and bringing in troops from Crimea. US, UK say Russia moving ‘slower than expected’ as army moves in on capital city.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday it was unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin has plans outside of his current invasion inside Ukraine.
“It is not entirely clear if Mr. Putin has designs beyond the Ukraine,” Kirby said. “And it’s because that’s not perfectly clear that we continue to look for ways to bolster our NATO capabilities and to reassure our allies. I mean, one of the reasons we’re doing this is because we want to make it clear to him that we will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Kirby’s comments contradict warnings issued by President Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg who said Response Forces had been deployed for the first time for collective security following threats made by Putin.
Stoltenberg also expressed the urgency to back other former Soviet nations like Georgia and Moldova.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House will sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin in coordination with its European allies.
“In alignment with the decision by our European allies, the United States will join them in sanctioning President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov,” Psaki told reporters during a press briefing Friday.
The move comes one day after the U.S. rolled out its second tranche of sanctions that targeted other Russian elites and their families, but omitted top Russian government officials like Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.