by Jeff Mason and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops for a qualified peacekeeping operation in Ukraine’s breakaway regions does not constitute a further invasion of the country even if it would trigger widespread US sanctions, a US representative said on Monday.
A full-scale invasion of Ukraine could, however, be launched at any time by Russia, the representative told Reuters.
Washington will continue its diplomatic efforts with Moscow until “the tanks land,” said another US representative during a conference call with reporters.
Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent on Monday and send troops there has heightened tensions with Westerners.
In the crowd of the Russian president’s speech, the White House announced that US President Joe Biden would sign an executive order prohibiting US nationals from engaging in any trade or investment with the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine.
These are separate sanctions measures prepared against Russia by the United States and its allies in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Sending Russian troops to breakaway regions is not a break with Moscow’s previous actions, which is why sweeping US sanctions were not automatically imposed, said the US administration official speaking to from Reuters.
“It’s not an additional invasion since these are territories they already occupied,” he said.
The second representative stressed that it was not a question of a new fact, but that Russia had taken the decision henceforth “to do it in a more obvious and (…) open way”.
Moscow continues “to fuel the Ukrainian crisis which it created itself”, he continued. “We will continue on the diplomatic path until the tanks land, but we have no illusions about what should happen next.” (Report Jeff Mason and Idrees Ali; French version Jean Terzian)