The foreign minister of Ukraine is calling on western nations to implement at least partial sanctions against Russia amid increased concerns that Moscow will invade its neighbor.
“Russia has to be stopped right now. We see how events are unfolding,” Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday during a televised briefing from a security conference in Munich, according to Reuters.
“It’s time to act,” he added. “I’m officially saying that there are all the grounds to implement at least a part of sanctions prepared against Russia, now.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken later defended the Biden’s administration’s decision not to place more sanctions on Russia ahead of a possible incursion by Moscow against Ukraine.
“The purpose of the sanctions in the first instance is to try to deter Russia from going to war. As soon as you trigger them, that deterrent is gone. And until the last minute, as long as we can try to bring a deterrent effect to this, we’re going to try to do that,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Kuleba’s statements come as Russia and Belarus announced on Sunday an extension of joint military drills near Ukraine.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said that military leaders from his country and Russia had decided to “continue checking” joint force readiness due to the “aggravation of the situation” in eastern Ukraine, where shelling near the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists led to thousands of people evacuating the area.
President Joe Biden last week said he was “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine.
“As of this moment I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” he said. “We have reason to believe that.”