Withe House (Times Of Ocean)- In response to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the U.S. President Joe Biden will announce new US and allied sanctions, a senior American official said on Tuesday.
As part of coordinated action with allies, Biden is expected to further tighten existing economic penalties.
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor for the White House, told reporters at the White House that Biden will announce the new economic penalties as part of a coordinated action with US partners and will further tighten existing sanctions to crack down on “evasion and ensure robust enforcement.”
Biden will depart for Brussels on Tuesday and attend a series of meetings beginning March 24, including a NATO summit and meeting of the European Council, to discuss western concerns about Russia’s war.
As the war approaches its one-month mark, Sullivan offered a somber assessment.
“There will be hard days ahead in Ukraine, hardest for the Ukrainian troops on the frontlines and the civilians under Russian bombardment,” he said. “This war will not end easily or rapidly.”
Still, Sullivan maintained that Russia has “manifestly failed to” achieve it objectives in Ukraine and has so far “achieved the opposite.”
“The brave citizens of Ukraine are refusing to submit. They’re fighting back. They’re defending their homes, they’re defending their cities and although Russia may take more territory in these brutal military operations, it will never take the country away from the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Hours earlier, a senior Pentagon official said Russia has lost more than 10% of its forces in Ukraine.
According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Moscow now has “below” 90% of the forces it amassed in Belarus and western Russia ahead of its military operation beginning Feb. 24.
On Monday, a pro-Kremlin tabloid reported that Russian Defense Ministry data indicated 9,861 Russians had been killed and 16,153 injured during the war. Komsomolskaya Pravda quickly removed the report.
Since early March, when it reported 498 deaths, the Russian Defense Ministry has not publicly given the number of casualties.
Since Russia’s attack on its western neighbor began, at least 953 civilians have been killed and around 1,557 others have been injured in Ukraine. However, the UN has warned that the true toll is likely to be much higher, since it has not yet been able to gain access to areas of increased hostilities.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, the war has also driven 10 million people from their homes, either internally or as refugees.