Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Biden holds emergency Situation Room meeting and meets G7 leaders
Biden insists he didn’t underestimate Putin and ‘no one expected sanctions to prevent anything’ as Russia captures Chernobyl: President freezes all Kremlin assets in America and targets four more banks after invasion U.S. ‘knew about for weeks’
President Joe Biden condemned Vladimir Putin for his invasion of the Ukraine‘Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,’ Biden said He announced a series of new sanctions on Russian financial insitutitions that he said will have a ‘severe’ effect on that nation’s economy Four more Russian banks will be hit with sanctions as will more Russian billionaires‘We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, and yen,’ Biden said Biden and G7 leaders condemned Putin for invading UkraineSaid he has ‘re-introduced war to the European continent’ and put himself on the ‘wrong side of history’Biden convened an emergency meeting in the Situation Room during Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine
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President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned Vladimir Putin for his invasion of the Ukraine and announced a series of new sanctions on Russian financial insitutitions that he said will have a ‘severe’ effect on that nation’s economy.
‘Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,’ Biden said in remarks at the White House.
He accused Putin of empire building with Thursday’s invasion into the Ukraine. And he said he didn’t underestimate the Russian leader.
‘He has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to re-establish the former Soviet Union. That is what this is about,’ the president said.
He said he had no plans to speak with Putin.
Biden’s speech, which was delayed twice on Thursday afternoon as Russian forces made their way swiftly across the Ukraine. The Kremlin seized control of Chernobyl nuclear power plant after a ‘fierce’ battle with the condition of nuclear storage facilities ‘unknown’, Ukraine said, sparking fears of a radiation leak that could cause fallout in Europe.
Video revealed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles standing in front of the destroyed reactor, which sits just 60 miles north of the capital Kyiv.
‘Now the entire world sees clearly what Putin and his Kremlin allies are really all about. This was never about a genuine security concern on their part. It was always about naked aggression,’ the president noted.
He said putting sanctions on Putin himself was ‘on the table.’
But he conceded that earlier sanctions didn’t work but argued sanctions would work with time.
‘No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. It’s going to take time. And we have to show resolve so he knows what’s coming,’ he noted. ‘He is going to test the resolve of the West to see if we stay together.’
Biden said four more major banks in Russia would be subject to sanctions as will more Russian billionaires. The U.S. and its allies already targered some Russian financial insitutions and members of Putin’s inner circle.
Biden emphasized the international community was backing this effort.
‘We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, and yen,’ he said. ‘Between our actions and those of our allies and partners, we estimate that we will cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports. We will strike a blow through their ability to modernize their military.’
The sanctions notably did not target Russian energy companies, a major source of the nation’s wealth. But Biden and his fellow leaders have expressed concern about energy prices particularly as the cold weather lingers.
Biden also has been presented with a range of options for a cyber security attack on Russia that would hamper its ability to run the invasion. The options include cutting off Russia from the internet and shutting down the switches that control the railway system that is moving troops into position, NBC News reported.
The White House pushed back on the NBC report. Press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted: ‘This report on cyber options being presented to @POTUS is off base and does not reflect what is actually being discussed in any shape or form.’
Ukraine, meanwhile, demanded Russia be kicked out of the SWIFT banking system. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, is a cooperative of financial institutions formed in 1973. It acts as a secure messaging system that links more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories, alerting banks when transactions are going to occur. To throw Russia out would cut the country off from most international transactions.
‘Right now that’s not the position Europe wishes to take,’ Biden said, ruling it out. ‘The sanctions we imposed exceed Swift.’
In other major developments in the hours since Putin’s assault:
Global markets tanked off the back of the invasion, with Russia’s ruble sliding to its lowest value ever and the price of oil shooting up to over $100 per barrel EU will freeze Russian assets, halt access to financial market and target ‘Kremlin interests’ Central European countries started preparations to receive potentially hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting in Ukraine UN Security Council will discuss a resolution condemning the invasion Ukraine demanded the world banish Russia from SWIFT banking system At least 40 Ukrainian soldiers killed, Ukrainian government says French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian’s aggression against Ukraine constituted ‘the most serious attack on peace, on stability in Europe for decades’European soccer’s governing body stripped St. Petersburg, Russia, from hosting the Champions League final, the biggest club game of the year, after Russia’s invasion of UkraineU.S. sending more military assets to Eastern Europe: Six F-35s will arrive in Estonia, Lithuania and Romania today — two to each country — the Pentagon said. Additionally, a group of attack helicopters ‘are on their way,’ a Pentagon official said, but noted there’s been ‘some weather issues’ to get them to their locations
President Joe Biden condemned Vladimir Putin for his invasion of the Ukraine and announced a series of new sanctions on Russian financial insitutitions that he said will have a ‘severe’ effect on that nation’s economy
Russian armoured vehicles park on roads near the Chernobyl plant, amid fears that damage to the facility could cause a radiation leak that would blanket Europe with fallout
A Russian T-72 tank is pictured sitting in front of the main reactor at Chernobyl after Putin’s forces seized it in a ‘fierce’ battle with the condition of nuclear storage facilities ‘unknown’
A night view of Kyiv as the mayor declared a curfew from 10pm to 7am
President Biden meets holds an emergency meeting with his National Security team in the Situation Room on Thursday morning in the midst of Vladimir Putin’s terrifying invasion of Ukraine from all sides
French President Emmanuel Macron takes part in a video-conference of G7 leaders on Ukraine just hours after Putin launched an all-out assault and launched attacks from multiple fronts
Biden appears in the top left corner of the Zoom meeting after he released a late night statement condemning Putin’s actions and vowing he would pay for the invasion of Ukraine
In this satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs PBC, smoke rises from the Chuhuiv Airbase outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine
Russian Mi-8 attack helicopters stage an assault on Gostomel air base, just on the outskirts of Kyiv, after Vladimir Putin launched an all-out attack on the country
A huge explosion is seen at Vinnytsia military base, in central Ukraine, as the country comes under all-out attack by Russia
An image captured near Kyiv shows what appears to be the wreckage of a downed Russian attack helicopter with a soldier parachuting out of it (to the left of the frame)
Biden met with G7 leaders on Thursday morning to discuss options and coordinate a severe economic and financial response.
The leaders of the seven industralized nations condemned Putin in a strongly-worded statement, saying the Russian president ‘re-introduced war to the European continent.’
‘He has put himself on the wrong side of history,’ the G7 leaders said of Putin after their Thursday morning meeting.
The virtual, closed-door meeting of G7 leaders – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – started at 9:17 a.m while shocking footage emerged of missiles hitting airports and military bases. The leaders concluded their conversation little more than an hour later, at 10:27 a.m.
As the meeting concluded, Ukrainian troops were fighting Russian forces for control of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, 60 miles north of the capital Kyiv, amid fears the battle could damage storage facilities holding nuclear waste sparking a fallout that could blanket Europe.
And the Pentagon said Russian forces are moving to decapitate the Ukrainian government and install their own.
‘Our assessment is they have every intention of decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance,’ a senior defense department official told reporters.
Biden started his day with a meeting of his National Security Council in the Situation Room at the White House as Russian helicopters swooped over Kiev and Putin launched an all-out attack from the north, south and east.
President Biden held a virtual meeting with G7 leaders, speaking from the Situation Room in the White House
The attack has come to Ukraine on all fronts, with bombs and missiles striking targets across the country, ground forces rolling in from Belarus, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, and paratroopers dropping on Kharkiv
Elsewhere, Kyiv ordered civilians into bomb shelters and declared a curfew amid fears Russia is about to strike the Ukrainian capital as Kyiv’s troops lost control of a key airfield around 15 miles away. Russian forces had attacked it with around two dozen attack helicopters earlier in the day, four of which are thought to have been shot down.
Some Republicans criticized Biden for not immediately addressing the nation on Wednesday night, after the first explosions were heard in Kyiv, which was around 10 p.m. ET in the United States and 6 a.m. in the Ukraine.
Former President Donald Trump was scathing of Biden’s response, telling Fox News in a wild interview that Biden was ‘probably in bed right now’ rather than monitoring developments.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was being updated by Blinken, Defense Secretary Loyld Austin, Joint Chief Chairman General Mark Milley and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
‘@POTUS was briefed on a secure call this evening by Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, Chairman Milley and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about the ongoing attack on Ukraine by Russian military forces,’ Psaki tweeted at 11:23 p.m.
Biden also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late Wednesday night, where he pledged American support.
‘President Zelenskyy reached out to me tonight and we just finished speaking. I condemned this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. I briefed him on the steps we are taking to rally international condemnation,’ Biden said in a statement on the conversation.
International condemnation of Russia’s actions has been swift.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the UK, in concert with our allies,’ would approve ‘a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy.’
The European Union has moved closer to a massive package of sanctions targeting both sectors of the Russian economy and individuals. It’s unclear if Putin himself will be targeted.
EU ambassadors met in Brussels Thursday morning to hash out the response.
The European Union will ‘make it as difficult as possible’ for the Kremlin to pursue its ‘aggressive actions’ in Ukraine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned.
She said the EU will ‘hold Russia accountable for this outrageous violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.’
The U.S. has already issued a series of sanctions, targeting two Russian financial institutions, VTB and Russia’s military bank.
Biden also said Russia’s sovereign debt will be sanctioned so Russia ‘can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade its new debt on our markets, or European markets either.’
Additionally, Biden went after Putin’s inner circle, targetting wealthy Russians who are close to the Russian president: Alex Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Putin’s deputy chief of staff Sergey Keriyenko, and the CEO of Russian Promsvyazbank, the country’s largest military bank.
And on Wednesday the White House stepped up pressure by imposing sanctions on the firm building the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers, a move Biden had resisted for months.
Putin personally gave the order to attack around 5am, unleashing a salvo of rocket fire that American intelligence said involved more than 100 short and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles, and 75 bombers that targeted military sites including barracks, warehouses and airfields in order to knock out the country’s military command structure.
‘I have decided to conduct a special military operation… to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide… for the last eight years,’ the Russian leader said.
Russia said the strikes destroyed 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities, 11 airfields, three command posts and 18 radar stations controlling Kiev’s anti-aircraft batteries.
The Kremlin launched simultaneous attacks from south, east and north, by land and by air. Missiles and bombs rained from the sky, tanks rolled across the border, helicopters buzzed in and explosions were seen across the country after Putin gave the order to attack.
By midday Thursday, the skies over Kyiv swarmed with Russian attack helicopters which seized control of Gostomel air base.
Russian policemen detain a protestor during rally against entry of Russian troops into Ukraine in St. Petersburg, Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall on his way to a meeting with Russian businessmen at the Kremlin in Moscow
Footage shows smoke supposedly rising on the skyline after the blasts were heard near Mariupol, eastern Ukraine
Smoke rises over Chuhuiv military airfield in eastern Ukraine after a Russian airstrike aimed at taking out the air force
The President condemned Vladimir Putin’s ‘unprovoked and unjustified attack’ on Ukraine in a statement soon after war was declared 11.43pm US time. He said ‘the prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight’
Zelensky, in an address to the nation on Thursday morning, said the history of Ukraine has now changed forever and that Russia has ’embarked on a path of evil’ – comparing the Russian attack to Hitler’s forces in World War Two. But he vowed to fight back, saying the military has already inflicted ‘serious losses’ on Russia.
He called on all Ukrainian citizens willing to defend their homeland to step forward, saying guns will be issued to everyone who wants one. He also asked for civilians to give blood to help wounded troops. And he asked world leaders to impose the ‘harshest sanctions possible’ on Putin.
But Putin issued a chilling warning to any country thinking of coming to Ukraine’s aid, vowing ‘consequences greater than any you have faced in history’.
‘I hope I have been heard,’ he said.
