Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered today that the Army’s so-called deterrent forces be transferred to a special military alert regime in response to aggressive statements by the West.
In a meeting with the Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoigú, and with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov, the president stressed that the decision responds to the aggressive speech of senior officials from countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
During the meeting, Putin described as illegitimate the punitive measures implemented by the West – the United States and the European Union – in recent days against the Eurasian nation, after Moscow’s recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
The day before, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, confirmed that he ordered the deployment of additional US forces in Europe to support NATO allies, according to a statement from the president published after an emergency summit of the military bloc.
At the same time, Biden said in an interview for blogger Brian Cohen, on YouTube, that an alternative to the harsh sanctions that Washington imposed on Moscow could be the “third world war.”
“Look, there were two options: start the third world war, start a physical war with Russia, or option number two: make the country that acts so contrary to international law pay the price for doing so,” said the head of the White House.
He considered that the policy of restrictions will give the result expected by Washington, but not immediately.
The European Union (EU) also proclaimed that it will facilitate the supply of military aid to Ukraine, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, posted on his Twitter account.
The list of restrictions against Russia increased from February 24, after the message of the Russian head of state declaring the start of the military operation in Ukraine in response to the request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the EU targeted their measures against representatives of the Russian government, as well as the banking, energy, air and space sectors.
This Friday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against President Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov.
