Miro Popkhadze, an analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Al Jazeera Putin’s announcement was meant to be perceived as a threat by Europe. “It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable,” Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview on CBS. The American ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, condemned Putin’s move strongly. “This is a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on ABC. The United States responded to Putin’s announcement, accusing the Russian leader of fabricating threats to justify “further aggression”. “This is seemingly another move by President Vladimir Putin to show that he is still very much a man of strength,” Jabbari said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Putin, also oversaw the military exercises. But with the Russian bombardment building, and Ukraine vowing no surrender, there appeared to be scant hope for an immediate resolution Monday.The Kremlin said it had successfully test-launched hypersonic and cruise missiles at sea and land-based targets. Meanwhile, with Ukrainian forces, composed of troops and everyday citizens who have taken up arms to protect their embattled nation, mounting a spirited defense against the Russians, Putin appears to be shifting to siege tactics that the Pentagon warned would increase the “likelihood of collateral damage to civilian life and infrastructure.” Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met in neighboring Belarus on Monday for discussions. And for now, Putin seems intent on continuing to escalate: He is cracking down on protests at home, and on Monday raged against the West as an “empire of lies” amid the international condemnation of his invasion. “At every step of this conflict, Putin has manufactured threats to justify more aggressive actions,” a U.S. There are concerns Putin could respond to the measures by further escalating the crisis, as he’s already done in putting nuclear deterrence forces on “high alert” Sunday. “Today, in coordination with partners and allies, we are following through on key commitments to restrict Russia’s access to these valuable resources.” “The unprecedented action we are taking today will significantly limit Russia’s ability to use assets to finance its destabilizing activities, and target the funds Putin and his inner circle depend on to enable his invasion of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Monday. Treasury Department and European allies prohibited individuals from working with the country’s central bank, finance ministry, and wealth fund. The stress on the Russian economy only intensified Monday, when the U.S. “While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end.” “This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years,” Fridman added. sanctions last week, wrote in a letter on Friday. “I am deeply attached to Ukrainian and Russian peoples and see the current conflict as a tragedy for them both,” the Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, whose Alfa Bank was hit with U.S. “Negotiations need to start as soon as possible!” “Peace is very important!” Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska said in a social media post Sunday. Russia’s economy was already reeling from the swift punishments world leaders imposed following last Thursday’s attack: The country began suffering cash shortages, the ruble went into free fall, and at least two oligarchs-who have been targeted by sanctions, along with their families- called for an end to the conflict, even if they didn’t explicitly call out Putin. But the enactment of those penalties by the United States and other Ukraine allies has exacted an enormous cost on the Russian economy, bringing its financial system to the brink of disaster and augmenting pressure on the country’s increasingly isolated authoritarian leader. Threats of severe economic sanctions were not enough to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine.
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