The US offers a limited initial response to Russia as it weighs tougher sanctions

“I don’t doubt that they are already calculating how to implement these plans,” Putin said.

US officials have said for months that there are no such plans, and Mr. Biden said at a press conference in January that Ukraine was still years away from qualifying for NATO membership. But he was not willing to bow to Putin’s demand that NATO stop accepting new members, and give a written and binding guarantee that Ukraine would never be part of the Western alliance.

Mr. Biden’s options for confronting any military moves in Ukraine in the coming days are limited. He has repeatedly said that he will not allow US forces to fight in Ukraine. But there is no guarantee that the conflict will not extend to Ukraine’s borders.

Europe was dribbling for refugees They are fleeing a modern, if corrupt, democracy whose president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in Munich on Saturday making his case that NATO should open its doors to his country — and thus defend it. Biden’s national security officials have warned utilities, banks and other US companies to strengthen their networks against what they fear will be a wave of Russian-origin cyberattacks and ransomware, which they have publicly warned could be unleashed in response to the sanctions. .

While Biden’s actions Monday night were restrained, his administration denounced the Russian decision as a violation of the rules that govern the global order.

In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Putin’s move a “flagrant violation of Russia’s international obligations.”

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called the measure a violation of his organisation’s charter. United Nations Security Council Hold an emergency meeting Late Monday night, the United States and its allies denounced Moscow’s actions – but Russia holds a veto on that body, stressing that it could block any action.

In a joint statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel wrote that the EU “will respond with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act”, and that it “reiterates its unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its borders.” internationally recognized”.