Kathmandu, February 22. Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered troops into Ukraine after recognizing two breakaway regions. He recognized those regions as independent on Monday, escalating the crisis.

Russian tanks and other military hardware were witnessed in the city of Donetsk. The Russian troops are ordered to “keep the peace”.

The move has been condemned internationally by various countries.

US imposes sanctions on breakaway regions

US president Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday imposing sanctions in the regions recognized as independent by Putin.

The sanctions include those of trade and investment. The order bars US citizens to finance, invest and conduct trade relations in those regions.

US president Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz regarding the escalating crisis. He also spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to assert that US stands in solidarity with Ukraine.

UK also warns of ‘hard’ sanctions

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has warned that they will be imposing hard economic sanctions on Russia if they move forward with their invasion into Ukraine.

Johnson said, “We will immediately institute a package of economic sanctions. This is, I should stress, just the first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia, because we expect I’m afraid that there is more Russian irrational behaviour to come.”

UK has also threatened to cut off Russian companies from their access of dollars and British pounds, which will stop them from raising capital in London.