Biden to impose new sanctions over Putin’s Ukraine moves

By Kevin Liptak | CNN

President Joe Biden plans to impose new sanctions on trade and financing in the two pro-Moscow territories that President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize as independent on Monday.

In a statement, the White House said Biden would sign an executive order that would “prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine.”

Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic Monday in a ceremony carried on state television earlier on Monday.

Biden’s executive order will also allow the US to impose sanctions on anyone operating in those areas. And the White House said it would “soon announce additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.”

“To be clear: these measures are separate from and would be in addition to the swift and severe economic measures we have been preparing in coordination with Allies and partners should Russia further invade Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in a statement.