‘Biden’s weakness has emboldened Russia’: Republicans tear into President for being slow to impose tough sanctions on Putin as members of BOTH parties call for a crackdown before a full- blown invasion

• Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday sent troops into the pro-Russian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as he declared those regions independent 
• Biden imposed some new sanctions on Monday prohibiting trade with the Kremlin-backed regions
• Administration officials refused to call Putin’s move an ‘invasion’ 
• The president is expected to announced more sanctions Tuesday
• Republicans and Democrats urged Biden to use every sanction in his arsenal before Putin fully invades

President Biden imposed some new sanctions on Monday prohibiting trade with the Kremlin-backed regions

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on President Biden to get tough with sanctioning Russia after it moved troops into eastern Ukraine. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday sent troops into the pro-Russian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as he declared those regions independent republics and no longer a part of Ukraine. 

Biden imposed some new sanctions on Monday prohibiting trade with the Kremlin-backed regions, but administration officials refused to call Putin’s move an ‘invasion.’ The Biden administration has insisted that it uses sanctions as leverage and is trying to stave off a full-blown invasion. 

The president is expected to announced more sanctions Tuesday. 

Republicans and Democrats urged Biden to use every sanction in his arsenal before Putin fully invades. 

‘Joe Biden has refused to take meaningful action, and his weakness has emboldened Moscow,’ Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on Twitter. 

She called on Biden to ‘immediately’ impose sanctions on the Nord Stream II pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany and to remove Russia from the SWIFT international banking system. 

Germany announced Tuesday it was pulling the plug on Nord Stream II after Russia’s move. 

‘It should never have reached this point. There was no good reason for President Biden to kill the Keystone XL pipeline last year while greenlighting Nord Stream 2 at the same time. It made absolutely zero sense. Very bad play calls that were the exact opposite of what was needed,’ Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., wrote on Twitter. 

Biden last year lifted sanctions on the pipeline as a diplomatic favor to Germany, arguing the pipeline was already 98% complete anyways.  

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Monday that Biden had signed an executive order that ‘will prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine. We will also soon announce additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.’ 

She said that Biden would announce new sanctions on Tuesday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday sent troops into the pro-Russian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as he declared those regions independent republics and no longer a part of Ukraine

A tank drives along a street in Donetsk, Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine

Military vehicles are seen on the move on Monday night in Donetsk

Waving Russian flags, people celebrated the latest announcement in the streets in Donetsk, Ukraine on Monday, February 21

‘Now is not the time for symbolic pinpricks that will serve only to embolden Putin and endanger our friends in Ukraine,’ said Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., in a statement. 

‘Putin’s obsession with restoring the old Soviet Union has led to unprovoked and unnecessary aggressive military action,’ said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. ‘Biden should have issued sanctions long ago.’

‘The time for taking action to impose significant costs on President Putin and the Kremlin starts now,’ said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who is close with the president, according to Politico. ‘We must swiftly join our NATO allies and partners in the European Union to impose forceful new sanctions on Russia, on all those responsible for this dangerous violation of international law, and to provide emergency support for Ukraine.’ 

‘It’s really important that we impose the sanctions now,’ New Jersey Democrat Rep. Tom Malinowski said after returning from the Munich Security Conference, where Vice President Kamala Harris met with Western allies to discuss the path forward should Russia invade. 

‘This seizure of additional Ukrainian territory should trigger the start of the sanctions,’ Malinowski said. 

‘The Biden administration and our European allies must not hesitate in imposing crushing sanctions. There must be tangible, far-reaching and substantial costs for Russia in response to this unjustified act,’ said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Foreign Relations committee chair. 

More than 10,000 soldiers entered separatist-occupied areas overnight, a source with links to Ukrainian military intelligence told MailOnline, with 6,000 sent to Donetsk, 5,000 to Luhansk and 1,500 to the city of Horlivka. ‘It is difficult to believe [Putin] could have moved that quickly – but he had a long time to prepare,’ the source said. 

Meanwhile Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin’s order to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk as independent stretches to the entire provinces – not just the areas currently occupied by rebels – raising the prospect he is about to launch a land-grab and spark direct confrontation with Ukrainian troops dug into trenches there.

As Russia’s troops rolled in, fighting in the region escalated – with shells striking a power plant on the Ukrainian side of the line Tuesday morning after explosions killed two of Kiev’s men and wounded 12 overnight. 

Putin claimed the troops would be moving in to carry out peace-keeping operations. 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed ‘as nonsense’ Putin’s announcement that Russian troops would be in the separatist area known as Donbas as peacekeepers, saying their presence is ‘clearly the basis for Russia’s attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.’ She said he gave the world a choice, and it ‘must not look away’ because ‘history tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly path.’  

The U.N. Security Council set a rare nighttime emergency meeting at the request of Ukraine, the U.S. and other countries.

Ukrainian service members participate in tactical drills at a training ground in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Tuesday

Ukrainians are preparing for Russian forces to arrive on their doorsteps after coming onto the country’s soil Monday evening after recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as independent states

Putin received no support for his move at the summit, with even close ally China urging diplomacy and a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Russia happens to hold the Security Council’s rotating presidency this month and wanted the meeting to be closed, but diplomats said they agreed to an open session under intense pressure from Western and other members.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a member of the Banking Committee, called on Biden to implement all of the sanctions he has been preparing. ‘I have worked with my Senate colleagues to ensure the president has the tools to sanction Russia’s leaders, its banking and financial sectors, and other critical industries. Now is the time for these tools to begin to be used.’ 

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