Ukraine on Wednesday asked its citizens in Russia to return immediately citing that in case of a war consular services could remain affected, news agency AFP reported citing Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. “The foreign ministry urges the citizens of Ukraine to refrain from travel to Russia, and for those in that country to leave its territory immediately,” Kuleba said.
Back in Kyiv, the government urged reservists to join the armed forces and defend the nation. Ukraine has more than 200,000 reservists who have prior military experience as they fought the rebels backed by Russia eight years ago when the Crimean annexation of Russia kicked-off the crisis.
Pacific Nations Announce Sanctions
Easing of tensions in Europe due to the crisis in Ukraine showed no signs of reductions despite nations joining forces to punish Russia following its recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Sanctions were earlier announced by the US, the UK, Germany and rest of EU and now the Indo-Pacific has also joined them in a bid to strangle the Russian economy.
Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said that her government imposed targeted financial sanctions on 8 members of Russia’s security council. Australian individuals and entities will be unable to do business with Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank, IS Bank, Genbank and Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction.
Payne also said that the visas of Ukrainian nationals that would be expiring soon will be up for automatic renewal for the next six months.
Japan said that it is imposing sanctions on Russia and individuals linked to Ukrainian regions controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists, news agency AFP reported. Japan will not issue visas to individuals linked to the “so-called two republics” – Donetsk and Luhansk. The issuing and trade of Russian government bonds in Japan is also under the ambit of the sanctions.
UK Says Situation Ambiguous
UK foreign minister Liz Truss said that there is not enough evidence that Russian troops were sent to so-called republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. However, Truss highlighted that it is highly likely that Putin will attack Ukraine. “We think it’s highly likely that he (Putin) will follow through on his plan for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Truss was quoted as saying by Sky News. “While Putin has said he is sending troops, we don’t yet have the full evidence that that has taken place. (It is) ambiguous,” Liz Truss further added.
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