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President Joe Biden on Thursday charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin has created a total breakdown of ties between Washington and Moscow, after Russia mounted an invasion of Ukraine.
“There is a complete rupture right now in U.S.-Russian relations, if they continue on this path that they are on,” Biden said at the White House after announcing a raft of new sanctions.
U.S. stocks plunged Thursday as Russia carried out the long-feared attack on Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was off about 500 points in afternoon trades, while crude-oil futures
CL.1,
jumped 1.4%.
See: Market Snapshot.
Biden said he had no plans to meet with Putin and said sanctioning the Russian leader himself remains on the table.
“When the history of this era is written, Putin’s choice to make a totally unjustifiable war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger,” said Biden.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war,” Biden said.
Announcing a major military operation, Putin deflected global condemnation and cascading new sanctions, as the Associated Press reported — and referred to his country’s nuclear arsenal as he threatened any foreign country attempting to interfere with “consequences you have never seen.”
Also read: Russia attacks Ukraine; conflict reverberates around globe.
Biden met Thursday morning virtually with other leaders of the Group of Seven nations, to strategize on severe measures against Russia. Among G7 nations, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled an asset freeze against major Russian banks, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has frozen the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Now read: Donald Trump praises ‘pretty smart’ Vladimir Putin for Russia’s Ukraine invasion
Key Words: Putin ‘making a historic mistake,’ says former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
MarketWatch’s Nicole Lyn Pesce contributed reporting.
