On the 22nd (local time), the U.S. government imposed its first sanctions once morest Russia for sending troops to Donbas, eastern Ukraine. The possibility of a diplomatic solution became slimmer as the US-Russian foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled for the 24th was canceled and the summit meeting between the two countries also failed.
U.S. President Joe Biden said at the White House on Wednesday that “the Russian invasion of Ukraine has begun”. President Biden announced the first sanctions once morest VEB, Russia’s largest state-owned bank, and PSB, a special defense bank, and 42 subsidiaries of these companies, five Russian leaders, and comprehensive national debt.
The US-Russian conflict is spreading into a new Cold War in the 21st century. Russia, which surrounded Ukraine with 150,000 troops, is ready to launch an all-out attack at any time, starting from Donbas. The US plans to provide defense materials to Ukraine and send additional troops to Eastern Europe. However, no U.S. troops are stationed in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Korean government is also under pressure to participate in sanctions from the international community, including the United States. On the 23rd, a high-ranking official at the Blue House said, “We are being asked to participate in various sanctions (from the international community).” “We are reviewing various possibilities, but military support or dispatch is not applicable, and we are reviewing mainly diplomatic measures,” he explained.
[워싱턴 = 강계만 특파원 / 임성현 기자]
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