Ukraine Urges More Sanctions Against Russia: ‘Hit Hard, Hit NowTHE WHITE HOUSE — Ukraine on Wednesday welcomed the range of sanctions imposed against Russia for its actions in eastern Ukraine, but called for more, and quickly, saying they are necessary to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin "from further aggression."\n\n"First decisive steps were taken yesterday, and we are grateful for them," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. "Now the pressure needs to step up to stop Putin. Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now."\n\nThe United States, European Union, Canada, Britain and Germany all took action Tuesday as part of what they have described as incremental approaches with promises of harsher sanctions to come if Russia acts further. "We have not yet seen a full-scale invasion, but we are very clear that if President Putin escalates, we, the international community will escalate our sanctions," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday.\n\nAustralia added sanctions Wednesday targeting members of Russia’s security council, while Japan joined with asset freezes for certain Russian individuals and a ban on the issuance of Russian bonds in Japan.\n\n"Australians always stand up to bullies, and we will be standing up to Russia, along with all of our partners," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. "I expect subsequent tranches of sanctions, this is only the start of this process."\n\nUkraine’s military said Wednesday shelling by pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk region had killed one Ukrainian soldier and injured six others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an order to call up some military reservists, citing a need to quickly staff up the nation’s army. "Ukrainians are a peaceful nation, we want silence, but if we keep silent today, we will disappear tomorrow," Zelenskyy said in a video address late Tuesday. Putin, who massed 150,000 troops along Ukraine’s border and whose recognition of rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine as independent and order to send Russian troops there triggered widespread condemnation, said Wednesday he is always open to finding a diplomatic solution. But he said, "the interests of Russia and the security of our citizens are non-negotiable for us." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken were due to hold talks this week about the crisis and set the stage for a summit between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden. Putin’s actions scuttled those efforts, with Blinken saying Tuesday that Russia "has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy." Biden on Tuesday cut off the Russian government from international financing and imposed sanctions on two large banks, declaring that its actions in Ukraine were "a flagrant violation of international law." Biden pointedly asked during a brief White House speech, "Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors?" Condemnation came from many other U.S. allies and multilateral institutions, including from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Tuesday, "Let me be clear: The decision of the Russian Federation to recognize the so-called ‘independence’ of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine." Biden also ordered the movement of infantry troops and air support from elsewhere in Europe closer to Russia’s borders. He said additional U.S. forces were deploying to the Baltics to "send an unmistakable message that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory." The latest deployments include a battalion of more than 800 troops deploying from Italy to the Baltic region, eight F-35 fighter jets and 20 Apache attack helicopters from Germany to the Baltics, and 12 Apaches from Greece to Poland. Canada also announced the deployment of 460 troops to Latvia to bolster NATO defenses. But Biden stressed, "These are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia." For now, the Biden administration says its strongest weapon is sanctions aimed at Russia’s power players. The sanctions announced Tuesday target three men in Putin’s inner circle: Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service; Sergei Kiriyenko, a top official in Putin’s office, and Peter Fradkov, chairman of Promsvyazbank. A senior administration official told reporters that the sanctions target two banks especially close to Russia’s leadership, including one — Vnesheconombank — that holds more than $50 billion in assets. Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, described it as "a glorified piggy bank for the Kremlin." Singh said if Russia goes further, then "no Russian financial institution is safe" from sanctions, including its two largest that hold nearly $750 billion in assets. "Make no mistake — this is only the sharp edge of the pain we can inflict," he said. Some analysts say the administration could have done more. "The sanctions announced (Monday) will have almost no impact, either in economic or political terms," Chris Miller, a Russia analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA. "The sanctions announced today — notably the sovereign debt sanctions — will have a minor, negative macroeconomic impact on Russia." In a speech at the Kremlin on Monday, Putin declared that Ukraine was never an independent state and was part of a greater Russian sphere of influence, not a "puppet" of the West. "He directly attacked Ukraine’s right to exist," Biden said of Putin, adding that there is "still time to avert the worst-case scenario" of a full-on invasion through diplomatic settlement of the crisis. Biden’s implementation of long-promised sanctions came as other Western allies quickly moved Tuesday to punish Russia with sanctions of their own. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz halted authorization for Nord Stream 2, the completed but not yet operational natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, at least temporarily curbing potential fuel deliveries to Germany but also depriving Moscow of revenue from the pipeline. Russian lawmakers on Tuesday gave Putin permission to use military force outside the country, possibly presaging a broader attack on Ukraine.\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that Russian tanks had moved into parts of Donetsk and Luhansk. "Every indication is that Russia continues to plan for a full-scale invasion on Ukraine," he said. VOA's Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb and VOA’s U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.