Before Russia invaded the Ukraine late Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country and its President Vladimir Putin would pay “for a long, long time,” for such an action.
“The United States and [European Union] stand together in strongly condemning Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” said Blinken in a tweet Thursday. “Together with partners around the world, we will impose severe costs to hold Russia to account.”
“We’ve made it clear that if Russia continues to escalate, if it engages in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, beyond what it's already doing, we’ll escalate too. And I hope that that knowledge may still act as a deterrent. But if it doesn’t, we’ve been clear that Russia will face massive consequences for its actions. And it will,” Blinken told CBS Evening News Wednesday. “This is a price that Vladimir Putin and Russia will pay for a long, long time.”
According to NPR, a U.S. defense official estimated that more than 100 missiles were fired at Ukraine Wednesday night. Ukraine reported more than 40 soldiers and up to 10 civilians killed during the Russian invasion as of Thursday afternoon, said CNN.
A child in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine was among the first to be killed, according to a report in The Daily Beast. Russian troops had seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Thursday a Ukrainian official said.
The senior U.S. defense official told NPR that Wednesday’s assault is the “initial phase” of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that is expected to have multiple phases. Another Pentagon official told the outlet that upcoming military targets in population areas could result in more casualties.
It’s believed that Russian forces are moving to install a new government in Kyiv.
Tensions have been mounting between Ukraine – which was once part of the former Soviet Union but is now a sovereign nation that has considered joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed in opposition to the Soviets. Putin is opposed to Ukraine joining NATO and has demanded that other ex-Soviet states that are in the organization pull back, according to CNN.
“President Putin’s deeply disturbing speech yesterday and his statements today make clear to the world how he views Ukraine: not as a sovereign nation with the right to territorial integrity and independence, but rather as a creation of Russia, and therefore subordinate to Russia,” said Blinken in a Tuesday speech. “It’s a completely false assertion that ignores history, international law, and the tens of millions of patriotic Ukrainians who are proud citizens of a free and independent Ukraine.”
That day, Blinken canceled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, according to CNN. As of Thursday, Blinken confirmed a NATO commitment to help protect nearby member countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
When CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell asked Blinken Wednesday if diplomacy failed in Ukraine, he rejected the idea.
“To the contrary. First of all, diplomacy succeeded very effectively in bringing the world together, the United States and Europe together, in standing up to Russian aggression,” he said. “We’ve been clear that Russia will face massive consequences for its actions.”
Blinken did not reveal the specific consequences Russia will face for its invasion of Ukraine. However, U.S. President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Thursday.
Related
Related
