WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden condemned Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified attack” on Ukraine Wednesday night and promised that the world will hold President Vladimir Putin accountable.
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” the president said in a statement.
Biden’s statement came after Putin announced that Russia would conduct a military operation in eastern Ukraine, as the world’s top diplomats gathered at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to urge the Russian leader to pull back.
Putin warned that any attempt to interfere with the Russian assault would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”
Biden said he will address the nation on Thursday to announce additional steps the U.S. will take beyond sanctions already imposed.
The Russian leader’s announcement came not long after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an emotional address, said his people want peace.
“But if we come under attack that threaten our freedom and lives of our people we will fight back,” Zelensky said in a televised plea to avoid war that aired early Tuesday.
At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged Russia to “back away from the brink before it is too late.”
“This is a perilous moment and we are here for one reason and one reason only,” Thomas Greenfield said, “to ask Russia to stop.”
Barbara Woodward, Britain’s ambassador to the U.N., said a full-scale conflict in Urkaine will bring “immense suffering, casualties on both sides, and devastating humanitarian consequences.”
“For months, Russia has been holding a gun to Ukraine’s head,” said Barbara Woodward, Britain’s ambassador to the U.N. “Now, President Putin’s finger is on the trigger.”
U.S. officials had been warning that Russia was poised for an imminent attack.
Satellite imagery and intelligence gathering had shown 80% of Russian forces moved into forward positions. Ten Russian amphibious landing ships were in the Black Sea to get boots on the ground, according to the Defense Department.
“Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on “NBC Nightly News” Wednesday.
On Monday, Putin ordered troops into two pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that he declared “independent” from Ukraine and in need of military protection.
In response, the U.S. imposed “full blocking sanctions” on two major Russian financial institutions, as well as on the country’s sovereign debt.
The U.S. also imposed sanctions on Russia’s elites and their family members, and on the company and corporate officers overseeing the Russian-owned gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2. Germany has blocked certification of the pipeline that runs from Russia underseas to Germany.
Blinken promised more “unprecedented” sanctions if Russia continued its aggression toward Ukraine.
Blinken also said the U.S. and its allies are “doubling down on our support to Ukraine.”
“Security, economic, political, diplomatic: All of that will be forthcoming,” Blinken told ABC’s “World News Tonight” Wednesday. “All things that President Putin says he wants to prevent will be happening.”
Biden has repeatedly made clear, however, that the U.S. will not be sending troops into Ukraine. He has vowed the U.S. will move forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to bolster America’s Baltic allies, including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
“We’re going to do a number of things that Russia is not going to like, including reinforcing the NATO defensive alliance, including right near Russia’s borders to make sure we’re protecting allies and partners,” Blinken said.
Associated Press contributed.
