The White House has officially labeled the movement of Russian forces into Ukraine an “invasion.”

Background: For weeks, Russia has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the Ukraine border while threatening an invasion.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine. [Read Next: Putin Signs Order Recognizing Breakaway Republics in Eastern Ukraine, Laying Foundation for Imminent War]

The latest move by Putin pushed President Biden to threaten strict sanctions against Russia, however, Biden appeared hesitant to pull the strict economic lever

What Happened: On Tuesday, reports broke that Russian troops have invaded Donbas, the name for the area where the two separatist regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, are located. [Keep Reading: Russian Troops Moved into Ukraine’s Breakaway Regions]

Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said, “We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine. An invasion is an invasion and that is what is underway.”


What Biden Says: “President Biden will soon issue an Executive Order that will prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Monday. “This E.O. will also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine.” (per The Daily Wire)

The EU: The EU and U.K. both placed their own sets of initial sanctions on Russia and made threats to ratchet up pressure should Russia continue its advance.

“President Michel and President von der Leyen condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision by the Russian President to proceed with the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities,” the EU said. (Per The Daily Wire)

What Trump Says: Former President Trump blasted Biden and the current conflict in Ukraine in a statement form his Save America PAC.

“If properly handled, there was absolutely no reason that the situation currently happening in Ukraine should have happened at all. I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing now, no way! Russia has become very very rich during the Biden Administration, with oil prices doubling and soon to be tripling and quadrupling. The weak sanctions are insignificant relative to taking over a country and a massive piece of strategically located land. Now it has begun, oil prices are going higher and higher, and Putin is not only getting what he always wanted, but getting, because of the oil and gas surge, richer and richer. The U.S. was energy independent under the Trump Administration, an independence that we had never obtained before, and oil prices would have remained low. Now, what a mess our Country is in!” Trump said.

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