US Says Russian Moves Require 'Swift, Firm' Response

Blinken slams Putin's 'flagrant disrespect for international law'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2022 6:25 PM CST
Biden Says US Will Respond 'Swiftly, Decisively' to Russian Moves
People wave Russian national flags in the center of Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, eastern Ukraine, late Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. The sign says "RUSSIA."   (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

The US stands with Ukraine in condemning Russia's recognition of two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine as independent states, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday after a day of fast-moving—and alarming—developments in the crisis. The Kremlin's "recognition of the so-called 'Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics' as "independent" requires a swift and firm response, and we will take appropriate steps in coordination with partners," Blinken tweeted. He said Vladimir Putin's move was a "complete rejection of Russia's commitments" under the Minsk accords that were intended to end the separatist conflict, the Washington Post reports.

"States have an obligation not to recognize a new 'state' created through the threat or use of force, as well as an obligation not to disrupt another state’s borders," Blinken said. "Russia’s decision is yet another example of President Putin’s flagrant disrespect for international law and norms." Hours after he confirmed the recognition in a speech that described Ukraine as an American colony with no history as a real country, Putin signed a decree to send Russian troops to the two territories as "peacekeepers." In a statement, the White House said President Biden had spoken to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to "reaffirm the commitment of the United States to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Biden told Zelensky that the US would "respond swiftly and decisively, in lock-step with its Allies and partners, to further Russian aggression against Ukraine," the statement said. The White House said Biden had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss a coordinated response. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the recognition of the breakaway as a "very dark sign," the BBC reports. Liz Truss, the UK's foreign secretary, said Britain will coordinate with the EU to "deliver swift sanctions against Putin's regime and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine." (More Ukraine stories.)

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