US to send additional troops to Europe
New sanctions against 19 Russian oligarchs, and Putin’s inner circle
Washington DC: President Biden hailed the United Nations’ vote to pass a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it showed the “isolation” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I commend the Member States of the United Nations for holding this historic session. Today’s vote lays bare Putin’s isolation. It also holds Belarus accountable for its unacceptable involvement in this war,” Biden said in a statement.
The resolution was passed with 141 countries voting in favor, 35 countries abstaining and five countries voting against. The only countries to vote against the resolution were Russia, Belarus, Syria, Eritrea, and North Korea.
Biden reiterated in his statement that Russia is solely “to blame” for the aggression. “Russia is responsible for the devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis that we are watching unfolds in Ukraine in real-time. There is no room for excuses or equivocation. Russia is to blame,” he said.
Biden’s administration on Thursday announced new sanctions against Russian oligarchs and others in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle as Russian forces continue to pummel Ukraine.
Those targeted by the new sanctions include Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, and Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals and a close ally of Putin. The U.S. State Department also announced it was imposing visa bans on 19 Russian oligarchs and dozens of their family members and close associates. The White House described Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, as a “top purveyor of Putin’s propaganda.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is considering sending additional troops to Eastern European NATO-member countries on a long-term basis in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers Tuesday.
