Biden addresses Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine

Washington – President Biden is preparing to address the American people on Thursday afternoon after Russia It launched what Ukrainian officials described as a “large-scale invasion.”He is expected to announce additional sanctions that the United States and its Western allies will impose on Russia in response to its aggressive actions.

Biden condemned what he called an “unprovoked and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine in a statement issued late at night Wednesday after Russia began launching strikes against Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of choosing a “premeditated war that will lead to heavy loss of life and human suffering.”

Ukrainian border guard service said Russian forces started hacking On the country’s border in the Kiev region, Oleksiy Aristovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said “dozens” of Ukrainian troops were killed amid the Russian attacks.

Biden’s comments, set at 1:30 p.m. ET in the East Room, come after a meeting with G7 leaders, many of whom have joined the United States in issuing a widespread condemnation of Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine, as well as a meeting with the Council of His National Security to discuss the latest developments in the crisis.

In an effort to deter Russia from taking further action in Ukraine, the United States has put forward a dossier The first tranche of penalties After Putin recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. The initial round targeted a pair of Russian banks, five members of the Russian elite with ties to Putin, the company that builds the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and officials of its subsidiaries.

But the Biden administration and Western leaders have warned that any further escalation by Putin against Russia’s neighbor will lead to tougher sanctions, and the president said in a statement late Wednesday that the United States and its allies would impose “other consequences” on Russia over its attack on Ukraine. .