The Treasury Department announced the sanctions of four Ukrainian officials accused of being part of an effort from Russia to set the pretext for an invasion of Ukraine Thursday. Two of the four officials are current members of Ukraine’s parliament.
“The individuals designated today act at the direction of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), an intelligence service sanctioned by the United States, and support Russia-directed influence operations against the United States and its allies and partners,” the department said in a news release. “The four individuals have played various roles in Russia’s global influence campaign to destabilize sovereign countries in support of the Kremlin’s political objectives.”
The sanctions come as both President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine Thursday. Their comments, shown in the video above. According to the White House, President Biden’s comments came ahead of a meeting with his infrastructure implementation task force. There he clarified comments he made at a Wednesday news conference, which some interpreted as Biden giving Russia the green light to commit “a minor incursion.”
“I’ve been absolutely clear with President Putin. He has no misunderstanding. If any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,” Biden said Thursday. “And it would be met with severe and coordinated economic response that I’ve discussed in detail with our allies, as well as laid out very clearly for President Putin.”
Blinken’s comments came during and after a meeting with European allies in Berlin Thursday.
“It’s no accident that I’m offering these thoughts here in Berlin. Perhaps no place in the world experienced the divisions of the Cold War more than this city. Here, President Kennedy declared all free people citizens of Berlin. Here, President Reagan urged Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall,” Blinken said, according to the State Department. “It seems a time that President Putin wants to return to that era. We hope not. But if he chooses to do so, he’ll be met with the same determination, the same unity that past generations of leaders and citizens brought to bear to advance peace, to advance freedom, to advance human dignity across Europe and around the world.”
Blinken is set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Friday. The high-stakes bid to ease tensions appears likely to fail.
