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Ukraine says Russia will see new sanctions as ‘permission to attack’ amid warnings of fresh offensive
Zelenskiy says sanctions unveiled by west have ‘a spectacular look. But this is not enough’, as fears mount of large-scale Russian offensive
Russia-Ukraine war: latest updatesUkraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said new sanctions by the west against Russia do not go far enough and will be seen by invading forces as a “permission to attack”, as fears of an assault on the east of the country intensify.
It comes after the US, UK and EU unveiled a raft of new sanctions targeting Russian banks and the country’s elites. The US measures include a ban on investing in Russia as well as sanctions on president Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters. The EU sanctions include a ban on coal imports and restrictions on banks.
The Pentagon said a “small number” of Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in the United States to operate the deadly Switchblade drones that Washington is supplying to Kyiv. The troops were already in the US before Russia invaded.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby offered some optimism about the Ukraine resistance. “Of course, they can win this. And if you look at what they’ve been able to do just thus far, Mr Putin has achieved exactly zero of his strategic objectives inside Ukraine,” he said.
Nato foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday for two days of talks on providing support to bring an end to the war.
US sanctions against two of Russia’s largest banks are “a direct blow to the Russian population [and] ordinary citizens”, Tass news agency cited Russia’s US ambassador as saying on Wednesday. Anatoly Antonov made his remarks after Washington hit Sberbank and Alfabank.
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