“The United States is going to have significant announcements of its own a bit later today, including sanctions that we will impose in response to what Russia did yesterday,” said White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden welcomed Germany’s decision to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

“Joe Biden made clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 does not move forward. We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement. We will be following up with our own measures today,” Psaki tweeted.

On Monday, Russia officially recognized the two breakaway regions of Ukraine, Donetsk People's Republic, and Luhansk People's Republic, as independent states and deployed troops to Donbas, in a move interpreted as Russia's effective withdrawal from the Minsk Protocol. (ILKHA)