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More Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, following the United States, the European Union and Britain in an effort to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.
Australia said on February 23 that it would join the United States and Britain in targeting two Russian banks and imposing travel bans on eight members of Putin’s Security Council.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison – both leaders in the United States and Britain – said the sanctions were the first set in an arsenal of possible sanctions Australia could use against Russia.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on February 23 also described the measures against Russia, saying his government would stop the new distribution of Russian government securities in Japan.
Japan will also ban people traveling to the two Ukrainian separatist regions and freeze their assets in Japan, Kishida said.
The moves come after Putin’s decision to recognize two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states and to send troops there, actions that were condemned by the West, the United Nations and other countries and organizations.
Despite his actions, Putin said on February 23 that his country was ready to seek a “diplomatic solution” to the current crisis, but he stressed that Russia’s interests were not negotiable.
“Our country is always open to direct and honest dialogue, to seeking diplomatic solutions to the most complex problems,” Putin said in a speech.
However, he added: “Russia’s interests, the security of our citizens, are non-negotiable for us.”
The West has accused Putin of seeking a pretext for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine after Russia rallied more than 150,000 troops along the border, often blaming Kiev for violence in the region.
“None of us will be deceived” by Putin’s claims to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said in a speech on February 22, as he announced the first sanctions against Russia for its aggression.
“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said, referring to Putin’s stated plans to send troops beyond the regions into eastern Ukraine that Russian-backed separatists claim to control.
Washington’s measures include sanctions against two Russian banks and sanctions to block Moscow’s access to Western financial institutions.
Britain, the EU and Canada announced similar sanctions against Moscow, with most saying more serious measures could be imposed if Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On the other hand, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country was suspending the certification process of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia in response to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Scholz told reporters he had sought to suspend the review process by the German regulator for the $ 11 billion pipeline that is designed to supply natural gas to Germany from Russia via the Baltic Sea.
The pipeline has long been opposed by the United States and several European countries, who say it would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies.
Washington has also said it will cause economic damage to Ukraine, enabling Moscow to redirect gas exports around Ukraine, depriving the country of billions of dollars a year in transit tariffs.
Russia’s upper house of parliament voted unanimously on February 22 to meet Putin’s request to use military force abroad, a move that further fuels the crisis with Western countries.
The vote came after Putin sent a letter to the Federation Council demanding the formalization of a military deployment in regions in eastern Ukraine that Russian-backed separatists claim they control a day after Putin recognized their independence.
Putin later set the stage to end the crisis that has threatened to plunge Europe into war. These include giving up Ukraine from its ambition to join NATO./REL
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