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President Joe Biden announced sweeping sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Biden said the latest round of sanctions will freeze trillions of dollars in assets across a broad swath of the Russian economy.
"Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences," Biden said at the White House.
The sanctions will limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, and yen, stop the ability of Russia to finance and grow its military and make it more difficult for Russia to compete in the high-tech economy.
"This is going to impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time. We have purposefully designed these sanctions to maximize a long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our allies," Biden said.
In addition to the sanctions, Biden said he has ordered additional troops to Eastern Europe, but stressed they will not be involved in combat operations in Ukraine.
“Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the East," Biden said.
Shortly after Biden's remarks, the Department of Defense said that 7,000 U.S. troops are heading to Europe.
At least 40 people were killed, and dozens more were injured after Russia began military operations in Eastern Ukraine. Russia launched airstrikes and fired missiles at multiple cities, including the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, as tanks rolled across the border. Over 100,000 Russian and Belarusian soldiers have surrounded Ukraine on three sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his fellow countrymen to take up arms and fight back against the Russian invaders.
"Any citizen with combat experience will now be useful. It is up to you and all of us whether the enemy will be able to advance further into the territory of our independent state," he said.
Zelensky also said that Russian troops were trying to seize the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the worst nuclear accident in history.
"Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl [Nuclear Power Plant]. Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated," he tweeted.